Amid tight security, some one million Iraqi Army and police personnel have started voting for the nation’s new Parliament.
The voting is held two days before the rest of Iraq’s 22 million registered voters can go to the polls to elect a new Parliament, 328-member chamber, the first nationwide balloting since the withdrawal of U.S. forces in late 2011.
Voters at one central Baghdad polling station for military and police personnel went through four ID checks and search stations before they could enter the building on Monday. Inside, police dogs were used to search for explosives.
Iraq is experiencing a surge in violence, with Sunni militants targeting security forces and members of the nation’s Shia majority. Voters in Wednesday’s polls are widely expected to cast ballots along sectarian and ethnic lines.
