DHAKA: Deadly attacks on Monday, including a spate of suicide bombings, killed 20 soldiers and policemen as they cast their ballots ahead of Iraq's first election since US troops withdrew.

The bombings in Baghdad, as well as north and west Iraq raise serious concerns about the ability of the country’s security forces to protect voters during Wednesday’s general election, when more than 20 million Iraqis are eligible to vote.

They come amid a protracted surge in violence and fears that the country is edging towards all-out conflict.

Attackers wearing suicide belts hit polling centres in Baghdad and cities north of the capital, while roadside bombs struck military convoys and targeted journalists covering the polling.

At a voting centre in western Baghdad where six security members were killed, ambulances rushed to and fro, collecting the wounded, as soldiers cordoned off the street and ushered passersby away, a journalist said, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 2027 HRS, APR 28, 2014