BAGHDAD — The top U.S. general for Iraq said the country's national election was a milestone on the way to a full pullout of U.S. combat troops by Sept. 1 as planned.

Gen. Ray Odierno told reporters in Baghdad today most of the about 96,000 troops currently in Iraq will remain here through May, when the military will begin scaling down to 50,000 noncombat troops by the Obama administration's self-imposed deadline at the start of September. Odierno said as of now, every sign points to Iraq being able to peacefully form a new government in coming months.

Regarding the election, Iraqi coalitions and political parties jockeyed today for position following the country's pivotal vote meant to usher in the next government, as the election commission head estimated a turnout of 55 and 60 percent.

Iraqis defied a wave of insurgent attacks that killed 36 people and voted Sunday in key balloting that will determine whether they can overcome deep sectarian divides that almost tore the nation apart. It also will usher in a new government as U.S. forces prepare to leave.

The range given by Faraj al-Haidari, who heads the Independent High Electoral Commission, is down from the previous December 2005 parliamentary election turnout of 76 percent, although it's higher than last year's provincial elections when just more than half of voters cast ballots.

KABUL — Police said attackers detonated a bomb near a government building today in Afghanistan and holed up in another building nearby where they fired on Afghan police and U.S. troops.Acting chief of police in Khost, Yaqob Khan, said there had been no casualties, mostly because the attackers appeared to have mistaken an abandoned government building for a police station, which is next door.Khan said police surrounded the attackers and were firing on the gunmen with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. He said U.S. troops from a nearby base rushed to the scene to assist.

OKCULAR, Turkey — A strong, pre-dawn earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6 struck eastern Turkey today, killing 51 people as it knocked down stone and mud-brick houses and minarets in at least six villages, the government said.The earthquake surprised many people as they slept, crumpling buildings into piles of rubble. Panicked survivors fled into the narrow village streets, some climbing out of windows, as more than 50 aftershocks measuring up to 5.5 and 5.3 magnitude rattled the region.The Kandilli seismology center said the quake hit near the village of Basyurt in Elazig province, about 340 miles east of Ankara, the capital.The government initially put the death toll at 57 but later lowered it to 51. It gave no explanation for the discrepancy. In addition to the deaths, about 34 people were being treated for injuries from the quake, Turkey's crisis center said.

NEW DELHI — India's government introduced a bill to parliament today that would reserve one-third of the legislature's seats for women, angering socialist lawmakers who tore up papers and tried to tear out microphones.The protests stalled debate and voting on the proposal until at least Tuesday. The bill has faced strong opposition since it was first proposed more than a decade ago, with many political leaders worried their male-dominated parties would lose seats under a female quota system.But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government, which was re-elected last year, is confident it has enough support this time and presented the bill to parliament on International Women's Day.