BAGHDAD
At least three Iraqis were killed and six others injured Tuesday when an explosive charge went off near a polling station in the northern province of Diyala, a local official said.
"The bombing targeted voters in northern Muqdadiyah, 45km northeast of the provincial capital Baqubah," Adnan Salman, the head of Muqdadiyah local council, told Anadolu Agency.
The attack took place just hours after polls opened across Iraq for the first parliamentary elections since the withdrawal of U.S. troops three years ago.
Iraqis started flocking to the polling stations as of 4am GMT to elect 328 parliament members. Around 20 million Iraqis have the right to vote.
The voting is taking place amid myriad security challenges, particularly in the western and northern parts of Iraq where government forces are battling militant groups.
Salman said, meanwhile, that mortar shells had landed 300 meters from another polling station in Muqdadiyah, but left no injuries.
Five explosive charges also went off in Al-Adheem town, 60km north of Baqubah, but also left no causalities, added the official.
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