Mortar rounds were fired at voting centres in Baghdad and in Salahuddin province, a Sunni stronghold that was home to toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, as Iraq began a parliamentary election on Sunday, officials said, Reuters reported.
At least two mortar rounds struck near polling stations in a mixed Sunni-Shi'ite area of western Baghdad and there were unconfirmed reports of rounds landing in the heavily-fortified Green Zone neighbourhood, an Interior Ministry source said.
Two roadside bombs also exploded in Baghdad, the source said. There were no reports of casualties in the capital.
In Salahuddin, three people were wounded by mortar impacts in the town of Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
Voting across the ethnically and religiously divided country began at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT).
The election, Iraq's second for a full-term parliament since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, is viewed as pivotal as the country tries to end sectarian violence and set the stage for stability and economic growth ahead of a U.S. withdrawal by end-2011.
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