“ Khanaqin ( 105 km east of Diyala ) witnessed a large turnout on electoral participation across regions , pointing that Kurdish Salam list progressed in the preliminary results by a wide difference ,” The head of Khanaqin local council , Samir Mohammed Noor told “Shafaq News “.

He explained that the bombing of the Patriotic Union of impacted negatively on the electoral participation and feelings of joy disappeared on the successful electoral process .

Noor pointed to the existence of attempts and campaigns by some people to prevent others from participating in the public vote , but the residents of Khanaqin defied all circumstances and cast their ballots in the next parliament .

Noor predicted according to the results of supervisors of political entities that Kurdish Salam list would get 3 seats in the next parliament in light of preliminary data for the election results.

A source in Khanaqin Electoral Office confirmed that more than 45 000 voters of the total 68 000 voters in Khanaqin participated in the elections by more than 70 percent with the exception of four other sub-districts of Khanaqin.

Khanaqin is located in Diyala province, near the border with Iran , one of the disputed areas , as the majority of Khanaqin population speak al-Kalhariya and al-Koraniya dialects, which are considered of the Kurdish language , inhabited by a Kurdish majority and minority Turkmen and some Arab tribes .