Thousands flee Fallujah amid surge in violence

Iraq's election commission said on Saturday that results from last month's general election will finally be released within days, while nationwide attacks pushed this year's death toll to more than 3,500.

The Independent High Electoral Commission said counting delays after the April 30 vote were the result of a litany of complaints, and said provisional results - which remain subject to further challenge - would be published on either Sunday or Monday.

Although election results have not been released, political parties have nevertheless sought to build alliances in a bid to get a head start on forming governments, with incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki seeking a third term.

Maliki's critics accuse him of consolidating power and blame him for a marked deterioration in security in recent months.

Nevertheless, Maliki's political party is still expected to win the most seats in parliament, despite probably falling short of a majority on his own.

Meanwhile, attacks in and around Baghdad and north Iraq killed seven people on Saturday, pushing the 2014 death toll to more than 3,500, according to an AFP tally.

Four people died in a roadside bombing in a market area of the town of Tarmiyah north of Baghdad, officials said.

Separate bombings in Latifiyah south of the capital, and in Salaheddin province in the north, killed two soldiers, and a civil servant was shot dead in Baghdad itself.

Sunday morning saw the kidnapping of Rahman al-Jazairi, who heads an offshoot of Hezbollah in Iraq.

The official Facebook page of his party, Kutlat al-Warithun, stated that the kidnapping had been captured on CCTV cameras, and that the party would co-ordinate with the security forces to secure his immediate release.

On Friday, shelling killed four people in the militant-held city of Fallujah a short drive west of Baghdad, where troops have gone on the offensive without making much apparent headway.

Residents of the embattled city accused government forces of using barrel bombs in their latest offensive against militants.

The use of barrel bombs, made of oil drums packed with explosives and shrapnel, has been criticised for its inaccuracy and its tendency to cause large civilian casualties.

Lebanon's Daily Star reports that since 10 May, thousands of Fallujah residents have fled from what they described as "massive indiscriminate bombardment."

Since the start of this year, an estimated 420,000 people have fled the fighting in Fallujah and Ramadi, the two largest towns in western Anbar province.