Bomb Kills 3 Iraqi Policemen a Day Before Provincial Elections
By VOA News
30 January 2009
Iraqi officials say a bomb blast has killed three policemen in central Iraq a day before the country holds its first provincial elections since 2005.
Officials say police officers found the bomb Friday in the town of Diwaniyah and brought it to a police station to try to defuse it. The bomb then exploded, killing three police officers and wounding at least 14 others.
Iraqi officials have warned that insurgents may try to disrupt Saturday's elections. Three candidates were killed Thursday in separate shootings across Iraq. Despite the attacks, the run-up to the Iraqi vote has been relatively calm.
Iraq plans to tighten security nationwide starting at 10:00 p.m. local time tonight (1900 UTC/1400 EST) to try to prevent more violence. Measures include a night-time curfew, the closure of Iraq's borders and airports, and the closure of entry and exit points to Iraq's provinces.
Restrictions are already in place in the volatile northern city of Mosul.
On Saturday, Iraqi authorities plan to ban road traffic in major cities and near polling centers, with exceptions for specially-authorized vehicles.
Fifteen million Iraqis are eligible to vote in elections for 14 of Iraq's 18 provincial councils. About 14,400 candidates are vying for 440 seats. A first day of early voting for Iraqi security personnel and prisoners on Wednesday went smoothly.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
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