Armed gunmen opened fire early Saturday on the office of an Iraqi parliamentary candidate south of Baghdad, wounding two bodyguards, a security source said.

The attack on Sunni Muslim politician Muthanna al-Azzawi's office comes days after a bomb killed another candidate in the November 11 elections for the Shiite-majority parliament.

The gunmen fled after the attack in Yusufiyah, 25 kilometres (16 miles) south of the capital, the source told AFP.

Azzawi is a member of the Baghdad provincial council and belongs to the "Azem Alliance", a centrist Sunni coalition led by Muthanna al-Samarrai.

The candidate "firmly condemned the cowardly attack", saying: "These acts will not stop us from continuing to serve our people."

"The attackers will be punished for their actions sooner or later," A

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