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Insurgents shoot off voters' ink-stained fingers in
Baaqubah.
Masked gunmen in the northeastern town of Baaqubah
shot off the fingers of at least four Shia voters
after they went to the polls in Iraq's historic
elections.
After the polling stations had closed at 5 pm on
January, the insurgents set up makeshift checkpoints
around the city to look for people marked with
indelible ink on their index finger - a sign that
they had voted.
Najm al-Firaiji, a 21-year-old student, told IWPR
how he was targeted standing with a friend outside
his house in the al-Suwamra neighborhood in the
city's New Baaqubah area, about two and a half hours
after polls closed.
Four masked men approached and asked whether anyone
in the neighbourhood had gone out to vote.
Al-Firaiji's friend ran off, and the student told
the man he didn't think anyone had been to the
polls.
But then one of the men pointed a pistol at his head
and told him to show them his finger. It bore the
telltale purple ink stain, and one of the gunmen
shot it off.
"I hadn't intended to vote but my friends persuaded
me, saying there was a possibility that things would
get better," said al-Firaiji.
"Will they be able to cut off the fingers of eight
million people?"
Iraq's electoral commission estimates that eight
million out of the 14 million people eligible to
vote - about 60 per cent - cast a ballot on election
day.
Al-Firaju and three other victims of similar attacks
were treated in Baaqubah's hospital.
Despite explosions and attacks on polling stations
in Baaqubah, which lies about 65 kilometres
northeast of Baghdad, and the rest of Diyala
governorate, turnout here was high at around the
national average, an election official in the
province told IWPR.
Most were Kurds or Shia Arabs, the official said.
"I am 66 years old and this is the first time I've
voted, said a beaming Hadi Abdul Hussein.
Attacks continued after polls closed in Baaqubah.
Militants open fired on election workers and
security officials transporting ballot boxes from a
polling station located at the al-Batra primary
school.
Iraqi police reportedly fled the scene, but United
States troops moved in and managed to stop the
insurgents stealing the boxes.
This story has not been bylined because of concerns
for the security of IWPR reporters.
http://www.iwpr.net
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