Baghdad bombs: No pictures please

Baghdad bombs: No pictures please

Yesterday, as early voting got underway in Iraq ahead of the March 7 poll, three attacks disrupted life in the sprawling Iraqi capital Baghdad.

One was in the morning at an unopened polling centre in Hurriya district - we were first told by police it was a roadside bomb, later statements said the civilian building had been struck by a Katyusha rocket.

In the afternoon, at early polling stations in different parts of the city, two suicide bombers detonated their charges as security forces were voting. One in central Baghdad - Bab Muatham district, one in Western Baghdad - Mansour district.

Not wanting to become a part of the story (sometimes there can be back-to-back blasts), we headed to Mansour several hours after the explosion.

Police near the scene told us the suicide bomber, dressed in a police uniform, had managed to climb aboard a bus full of security personnel before detonating.

They wouldn't let our cameras anywhere near the blast site, very close to a girls' school on Amirat street. Two of my colleagues were taken to the scene though, they said it looked like the death toll - officially 3 killed, 15 wounded - could be higher than police were letting on.

Security forces stopped us from filming up the road from the blast site, too, warning we could get arrested. We ended up driving several blocks away for correspondent Anita McNaught to film her piece to camera.

The attacks have made people nervous ahead of the poll, in just two day's time - and with good reason too. Baghdad's already filled with blast walls, and security forces seemingly every 50 metres.

More than 200,000 security forces are scheduled to be deployed on election day, but if attacks are still being carried out despite the strict measures already in place, how can voters feel safe?