BAGHDAD – Sunni insurgents focused their attacks on polling stations throughout Iraq in the final days before the Jan. 30 historic election.

Insurgents sponsored by Saddam Hussein loyalists and Al Qaida have launched attacks on Iraqi polling stations, officials and security forces deployed to ensure the elections said.

The 13 attacks reported on Jan. 26, for example, focused on schools meant to house the polling stations on Jan. 30, Middle East Newsline reported. In the Iraqi town of Riyad, north of Baghdad, three car bombs exploded. Insurgents also targeted the Shi'ite sector, expected to sweep elections for the 275-seat National Assembly.

The U.S. military said six bombs were found around Baghdad and another two in the Shi'ite city of Najaf. Three Iraqis were killed in a bomb blast in the town of Samarra, north of Baghdad and another four Iraqis were killed in the town of Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad. Nine Iraqis were killed in a double car bombing near the city of Kirkuk. In northern Iraq, 15 Iraqis were killed when a truck bomb exploded near a Kurdish enclave.

At the same time, at least 31 U.S. soldiers were killed when a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter crashed in the desert in western Iraq. Officials said the crash of the CH-53 Sea Stallion appeared to be the result of a sandstorm. Another four marines were killed in clashes with insurgents in western Al-Anbar province and a U.S. soldier was killed in north Baghdad.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry has imposed new regulations meant to foil insurgency attacks. On Wednesday, the ministry announced a ban on travel between provinces as well as an expansion of the curfew.

Interior Minister Falah Naqib said the measures have helped improve security. Naqib reported an 80 percent improvement in the four most violence provinces, Anbar, Baghdad, Ninveh and Salaheddin.

"We have full confidence that together, based on these measures, we will contribute to the success of the elections and to providing a secure atmosphere for a bigger participation by all the people of Iraq and all areas of our beloved country," Naqib said.