Iraqi forces killed four militants and ended a hostage crisis after attackers stormed a Baghdad government building Thursday, as nationwide violence took January’s death toll past 900 with elections looming.

Iraqi forces killed four militants and ended a hostage crisis after attackers stormed a Baghdad government building Thursday, as nationwide violence took January's death toll past 900 with elections looming.

The brazen assault on a building in the northeast of the capital comes as security forces grapple with intensifying violence and an extended standoff with anti-government fighters in the western province of Anbar.

It is likely to raise fresh concerns about the capabilities of Iraq's security forces amid fears the April 30 polls could be partially delayed, as was the case for provincial elections in April 2013.

Six militants wearing suicide vests initially attempted to storm the building, which houses a transport ministry state-owned company, by blowing up a minibus rigged with explosives at the main gate, according to police at the scene.

When the explosion did not go off, one of the attackers blew himself up to clear the way for his fellow militants, followed by a second bomber who set off his vest at an inner gate.

The four remaining fighters then took hostages in the building for several hours before they were eventually killed by security forces, interior ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan said.

At least two people were killed in the attack overall, including a policeman, and eight others wounded, according to Maan.

A police colonel and an interior ministry official confirmed the account and the toll.

"At the time of the attack, the employees in the building behaved very wisely and shut all their doors," Maan told AFP. "They kept all the employees inside."

"The whole operation is now finished, everything is under control."

Security forces had sealed off the surrounding area, which is home to other government offices, including the headquarters of the transport ministry and a human rights ministry building.

Elsewhere in the Iraqi capital on Thursday, bombings near a market and a restaurant in the Shiite-majority neighborhoods of Kasra and Talbiyah killed six people, officials said.

They struck hours after car bombs ripped through Baghdad Jadidah, Shuala and Talbiyah, leaving nine people dead on Wednesday evening.

Attacks on Wednesday also hit the capital's outskirts, as well as the northern cities of Mosul and Tuz Khurmatu, killing seven others.