An Iraqi man gestures after voting at a polling station in the Wadi Hajar district of Mosul on May 12, 2018, still partially in ruins from the devastating months-long fight to oust the Islamic State (IS) group. (AFP / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE)
Baghdad: Iraq headed to the polls Saturday for its first parliamentary election since declaring victory over the Islamic State group, with the country hoping to shore up a fragile peace and rebuild.
Voters across the war-scarred nation cast their ballots under tight security, as the jihadists still pose a major security threat despite a sharp fall in violence.
The poll comes with tensions surging between key powers Iran and the United States after Washington pulled out of a key 2015 nuclear deal, sparking fears of a destabilising power struggle in Iraq.
Roughly 24.5 million voters face a fragmented political landscape five months after IS were ousted.
Over 15 blood-sodden years since the US-led ouster of Saddam Hussein, disillusionment is widespread and politics is dominated by old faces from an elite seen as mired in corruption and sectarianism.
At a polling station in the Baghdad district of Karrada, 74-year-old Sami Wadi appealed for change "to save the country".
"I call on all Iraqis to participate in the elections to prevent those who have controlled the nation since 2003 from staying in power," the retiree told AFP.