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The Iraqi air force carried out a new strike on an Islamic State position inside Syria, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said in a statement on Sunday.

The North African country has held parliamentary and presidential polls since the fall of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, but local elections have faced repeated delays.

"For the first time the Tunisian people are called to participate in municipal elections, something that seems simple, but it is very important," Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said on the eve of the vote.

"This means that Tunisia continues establishing the democratic course."

Polls have opened in Lebanon, kicking off the country's first parliamentary elections in nearly a decade.

Sunday's vote sees 583 candidates compete for the 128 seats in parliament through 77 rival lists, spread across 15 districts.

Under the terms of a new electoral law that introduced proportional representation, voters will be casting two votes; one for a list of candidates and one for a single preferred candidate.

There are up to 3.8 million registered voters in the country. More than 700,000 voters will be casting their ballots for the first time.

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