Baghdad, April 30 (RHC)-- At least 27 soldiers and policemen have been killed in a spate of attacks and bombings across Iraq, as they cast their ballots in special voting ahead of the country’s main parliamentary elections.

A bomb attack at one voting center in western Baghdad left seven policemen dead on Monday while five members of the security forces lost their lives in another bomb blast at a polling station in the capital’s north. According to officials, 15 members of the security forces were killed in assaults elsewhere.

Meanwhile, a bomb explosion in the northern city of Mosul injured six Iraqi journalists while they were in a military vehicle to cover the election. Iraqi soldiers and policemen began voting on Monday, two days before the national elections, in order to be able to provide security for the main polling event on Wednesday.

Hospital and prison staff, patients and inmates also cast their ballots on Monday. The vote is Iraq’s first parliamentary elections since U.S. forces nominally withdrew in 2011 and is a major test for the security forces. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is hoping to win a third term.