Sepcial Report: Tension accelerates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, April 16 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people were killed and 18 others wounded when a car bomb exploded near a crowded market in a town south of Baghdad on Sunday, an Interior ministry source told Xinhua.

    "A car bomb went off near a popular market in Muhmoudiyah town at about 4:00 p.m. (1200 GMT), killing at least seven people and wounding 18 others," the source said on condition of anonymity. The powerful blast left body parts scattered at the scene, he said.

    Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area, as ambulances rushed to evacuate the wounded to hospital, he added. Earlier on Sunday, another car bomb killed four people and wounded six others near the Kamaliyah mosque in eastern Baghdad, according to a ministry source.

    Separately, a roadside bomb struck a U.S. patrol in the busy Athoriy in Market in Baghdad's southern district of Dora, causing uncleared number of casualties, the source said. Enditem