Stryker Brigade News

The U.S. military, which was providing security Thursday, received reports that large numbers of voters were being turned away after being told that they didn't have the proper registration. At one polling site in a predominantly Kurdish neighborhood, it appeared only Arab voters were being turned away. Kurdish voters made similar protests of being blocked from the polls in some Arab neighborhoods.

"If the Americans and Shiites want a certain candidate, they'll be sure to get that candidate," said Hamid Kareem, a Sunni voter.

Lt. Col. Charles Webster, commander of the U.S. 172nd Stryker Brigade overseeing much of eastern Mosul, acknowledged some problems but said he did not believe a significant number of voters were affected.

Though there were several booms in the early morning hours from mortar attacks and roadside bombs targeting polling sites and Iraqi security forces, the U.S. military reported few significant incidents in the city. One man was killed by a mortar that was intended for a polling station near the hospital the man worked at.

Uniformed, gun-carrying members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's militia, or pesh merga, stood outside one polling site in the Saddam neighborhood. They were reportedly telling voters that they should cast their ballots for the Kurdish list.

Capt. Allen Harris, a company commander for an element of the 172nd Stryker Brigade, paid a visit and warned the pesh merga that they weren't allowed on the street with their weapons or in their vehicles Thursday. Harris also reminded them they were prohibited from any sort of campaigning at the polls.

"If you are out in the street in your vehicles or with your weapons or vehicles, you risk the possibility of us shooting at you," Harris warned the militia commander. "Is that understood?"