Iraqi security forces deploy in Basra city to protect 480 polling stations ahead of March 7 elections.
Security was tightened in and around a number of polling stations in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Wednesday (February 24) ahead of the March 7 parliamentary elections.
Iraqi security forces were deployed in Basra city to guard polling stations under a security plan put in place by the Iraqi government to protect election centres across Iraqi cities.
Ali Ghanim al-Maliki, the Read more

Iraqi security forces deploy in Basra city to protect 480 polling stations ahead of March 7 elections.
Security was tightened in and around a number of polling stations in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Wednesday (February 24) ahead of the March 7 parliamentary elections.
Iraqi security forces were deployed in Basra city to guard polling stations under a security plan put in place by the Iraqi government to protect election centres across Iraqi cities.
Ali Ghanim al-Maliki, the Head of Security Committee in Basra city said that the security forces in the city would work on protecting about 480 polling stations.
"The (security committee) in Basra has worked with the security apparatus at the Ministry of the Interior and put a security plan for the election and the day of the election in the coming days. Actually, protection has been provided to 480 election centres in Basra city."
Meanwhile, the media officer of the Independent High Electoral Commission Alaa Saeed said crates of ballot papers had arrived safely and been distributed.
"Today, we have received two airplanes loaded with ballot papers. (The ballot papers) have reached four cities: Basra, Samawa, Nassiriya and Amara and the security forces have secured this arrival and it has been taken to the stores. The arrival was heavily protected by the security forces."
Iraq plans to deploy tens of thousands of troops and police, restrict vehicle movements and impose curfews to prevent attacks during the elections, security officials said on Monday.
Al Qaeda's branch in Iraq has threatened to try to prevent the national ballot, seen as a critical juncture for the country as it tries to leave behind years of bombings, killings and other mayhem and revamp its war-battered economy and oil sector.
Deputy Interior Minister Lieutenant General Iden Khalid, the head of the security committee assigned to protect the vote, said that security forces would impose a curfew between 10pm and 5am from March 6 to March 8 across Iraq.
More than 500,000 members of the Interior Ministry and around 14 army divisions from the Defence Ministry should be enough to protect the ballot, he said, without specifying exactly how many would be deployed on election day.
Iraq will close crossings by air, sea and land and between provinces from 12am on March 7 to 5 am on March 8, he said.
Security forces planned to restrict vehicle movements within city centres and districts on election day, and would ban trucks with a capacity of more than one tonne, animal-driven carts and motorcycles, Khalid said.
Violence in Iraq has ebbed over the last two years, but attacks remain common, and are often blamed on Sunni Islamist insurgents such as al Qaeda.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki faces a tough re-election battle, but hopes to claim credit for security improvements to bolster his campaign ahead of the ballot.
Iraq's security forces have been criticised after a recent raft of major coordinated attacks by al Qaeda-linked militants on high-profile targets in Baghdad that have killed hundreds. Close