Suicide bombing targets ballot boxes in Iraq’s Kirkuk
A suicide bombing Sunday targeting a warehouse in Kirkuk where ballot boxes from Iraq's May elections were stored killed one and wounded 22 people, days before a vote recount, a security source said.
- Middle East
- Compiled from news agencies
- Published Date: 12:00 | 01 July 2018
- Modified Date: 11:44 | 01 July 2018
One policeman was killed and 22 people were injured in a suicide bombing targeting ballot boxes in Iraq's northern Kirkuk province on Sunday, according to a local police officer.
A Daesh bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a ballot box warehouse south of the Kirkuk province, police captain Hamed al-Obeidi told Anadolu Agency.
He said most of those injured in the attack were security personnel.
The building was damaged by the blast but the ballot boxes were unaffected, said Rakan al-Juburi, the governor of Kirkuk north of Baghdad.
Sunday's attack came two days before Iraq's electoral commission starts the manual recount of votes from the May 12 parliamentary election, in which Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Sairoon coalition won the most votes.
The Iraqi parliament earlier this month voted in favor of amending Iraq's election law, allowing votes to be recounted manually, a decision that was upheld by the Supreme Federal Court.
Results of the parliamentary polls have been dogged by controversy and allegations of vote-rigging -- allegations denied by the leading coalitions.