Bombings killed five people in the outskirts of Baghdad on Saturday as the count from an April 30 general election finally neared completion.

Bombings killed five people in the outskirts of Baghdad on Saturday as the count from an April 30 general election finally neared completion.

The deaths were latest in a protracted surge in bloodshed that has seen 3,500 people killed already this year.

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

Another blast, in Latifiyah, south of the capital, killed a soldier.

On Friday, four people died in shelling of the militant-held city of Fallujah, a short drive west of Baghdad, where troops have gone on the military operation against Takfiri militants in recent days.

Electoral officials said provisional results could be released as early as Sunday, a week earlier than originally expected.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s electoral list State of Law is likely to lead the parliamentary vote, with expectations say that the Iraqi PM is to form the new government.