Special report: Tension accelerates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- A suicide car bomber struck an Iraqi army checkpoint in eastern Baghdad on Tuesday, wounding two soldiers, an Interior Ministry source said.

    The suicide bomber detonated his explosive-packed car at the checkpoint on the Palestine Street shortly after 11:00 a.m. (0700 GMT)," the source said on condition of anonymity.

    A roadside bomb went off in the morning outside the Iraqi Ministry of Culture in eastern Baghdad, killing a guard and wounded two civilians, the source added.

    Earlier, another suicide car bomber blew himself up near an Iraqi security patrol in central Baghdad, killing at least 10 soldiers and policemen and wounding 12 others.

    Elsewhere, a roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi army convoy near the northern Iraqi town of Baiji in the morning, killing 20 Iraqi soldiers and wounding 13 others.

    Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces backed by 3,700 U.S. soldiers set out a joint security operation in Baghdad on Tuesday, the source said. Enditem