At least one policeman was killed and nine people were wounded in an attempt by suicide bombers to storm a religious Shiite college in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Sunday, an Interior Ministry source said.

The attack occurred before noon when two suicide bombers wearing explosive vests tried to break into the Shiite college of Imam Kadhim in Ur district in the northeastern part of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

"A policeman was killed and nine people were wounded," the source said citing initial police reports.

Iraqi security forces cordoned off the scene and blocked all the roads leading to the compound, he added.

The violence came less than two weeks ahead of landmark parliamentary elections on April 30, the first in the country since the withdrawal of US troops in late 2011.