Mortars, sound grenades target Iraq voters, no victims

BAGHDAD, Iraq (UPDATED) – Two mortars landed near voting centers west of Baghdad Wednesday morning, April 30 as Iraqis went to the polls in the country’s first general election since US troops withdrew, an official said.

The mortars did not cause any casualties, according to Shaker al-Essawi, a senior municipal official in the area just west of Baghdad where the attacks took place.

Elsewhere in Iraq, militants set off nearly a dozen sound grenades in the ethnically mixed town of Tuz Khurmatu, north of Baghdad, while a senior police chief in Kirkuk province survived an assassination attempt carried out with twin bombings targeting his convoy, officials said.

The violence comes after two days of bloodshed that left nearly 90 people dead nationwide, ahead of the nationwide vote in which Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is seeking a third term in office.

Unrest has surged in recent months, with more than 750 people killed already this month, according to an Agence France-Presse tally. – Rappler.com