Iraqi voters are heading to the polls in the first provincial elections for a decade.
The ruling Shia Muslim alliance is likely to extend its grip on power amid a boycott by populist Shia leader Moqtada Al-Sadr, its main political rival.
The election sets the stage for parliamentary elections scheduled for 2025, which will determine the balance of power in a nation where groups with ties to Iran have made political gains in recent years.

Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem reports from Baghdad.

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