Blast rocks Baghdad as Iraqis start to vote

A loud explosion has rocked Baghdad just moments after polls opened in Iraq’s parliamentary election.President Jalal Talabani was one of the first to cast his vote in a ballot being held amid tight security.

Despite this a blast shook the area around the fortified Green Zone complex where Iraq’s government is based. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. Al-Qaeda and other Islamist militant groups have vowed to disrupt what is the first election for a full term parliament here since the fall of Saddam Hussein. On polling day during the last election in January, suicide bombings and shootings left around 40 people dead.

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