Summary At least four people were killed in suicide attack inside a ballot-counting center in western Iraq.
FALLUJAH (AP) - A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a ballot-counting center in western Iraq late Thursday, officials said, killing at least four people after the polls closed in elections in two of the country s most volatile provinces that had already been delayed once over security fears.
The attacker struck at the end of what had been a relatively calm election day in Sunni-majority Anbar and Ninevah provinces, both hotbeds of anti-government unrest. A decision by the central government to postpone elections there had raised concerns that voters there would be disenfranchised, adding to their grievances with the Shiite-led government.
Security had been a top concern ahead of Thursday s vote. Thousands of policemen and soldiers were deployed to secure the elections, and authorities imposed a vehicle ban in major cities in the two provinces to protect against car bombings as voting got underway for candidates who will serve on provincial-level councils.
Iraq is weathering its worst spike in violence in half a decade, with nearly 2,000 people killed since the start of April. Much of the violence is the work of the Sunni extremist al-Qaida branch in Iraq.
The bombing happened in Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, 115 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad. There were conflicting casualty tolls.
Two police officers in Anbar said at least four people were killed and five more were wounded. Talib Humadi, a councilman from Anbar, said the blast killed seven people.
Authorities quickly imposed a curfew throughout the province after the attack.
Earlier, police said a mortar attack killed one person in Ramadi while polls were open. The police officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren t authorized to speak to reporters.
