Iraq.7 March 2010 : There has been a bloody start to Iraq’s second parliamentary election since the 2003 invasion, with at least 24 people being killed in attacks.

At least two buildings have been destroyed and dozens of mortars fired across Baghdad and elsewhere.

The border with Iran has been closed, thousands of troops deployed, and vehicle movement has been banned.

PM Nouri Maliki called on voters to turn out in large numbers, saying that participation would boost democracy.

The election is taking place against a backdrop of much-reduced violence, with casualty figures among civilians, Iraqi forces and US troops significantly lower than in recent years.

But hundreds of people are still being killed each month, corruption is high and the provision of basic services such as electricity is still sporadic.

In one attack, 12 people were killed and eight injured when an explosion destroyed a residential building in northern Baghdad, officials said, shortly after another blast in the city killed five others.

Seven died in other attacks across the country, but no polling stations are reported to have been hit.

Sporadic mortar fire could be heard across the capital after polls opened at 0400 GMT, two bomb blasts were reported near a polling station in Fallujah, and there were also reports of mortar rounds being fired in Salahuddin province.

Islamic militants had pledged to disrupt the voting process with attacks - a group affiliated to al-Qaeda distributed leaflets in Baghdad warning people not to go to the polls.

A vast operation, involving more than half-a-million members of Iraq’s combined security forces, has been put in place to try to prevent attackers from disrupting the election.

Most of the mortars were fired from Baghdad’s predominantly Sunni districts, said the city’s security spokesman, Maj Gen Qassim al-Moussawi.

“We are in a state of combat,” he said. “We are operating in a battlefield and our warriors are expecting the worst.”