Sepcial Report:Tension accelerates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The death toll rose to 57 and up to 148 others wounded in four attacks targeting a Shiite neighborhood in southern Baghdad late on Sunday, an Interior Ministry source said on Monday.

    "Our latest reports said that 57 people were killed and 148 others wounded in the attacks of Zaafaraniya neighborhood late last night," the source said on condition of anonymity.

    More corpses have been pulled from the rubble of the damaged buildings and nearby market, which explains the rise of the death toll of the Sunday night's attacks, the source said.

    On Sunday, the carnage began at about 7:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) when a rocket struck a building in a market in southern Baghdad district of Zaafaraniya, leaving the building heavily damaged.

    Several minutes later, a car bomb near the building exploded.

    A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol in the same area went off minutes later, wounding three policemen, the source said.

    This was followed by a motorcycle bomb attack, which destroyed a building.

    The upsurge of violence in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities is seen as a major setback for the Iraqi government's efforts to achieve security. Enditem