The deployment of Iraqi troops is part of an emergency security plan set to protect voters on election day on March 7th.

Iraqi coast guard boats patrolled the Shatt al-Arab water.

Meanwhile, other troops took positions near the Iraq-Kuwait border to secure routes which are used by smugglers to smuggle goods, weapons and oil products.

More than 12 people were killed in Baghdad on Thursday by suicide bombers.

That´s despite the tight security measures taken by Iraqi security forces throughout the country.

The blast came days before a poll that will test Iraq´s prospects for stability as U.S. troops prepare to leave.

The election marks another stage in the nation´s efforts to find peace and prosperity after years of dictatorship, war, sanctions and sectarian strife.

950-thousand people are eligible to vote early.

On Wednesday, the Pentagon said only an "extraordinarily dire" security deterioration would warrant a slowdown in plans for the remaining 96-thousand U-S troops there.