Special report: Tension accelerates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a suicide truck bombing near the offices of a main Kurdish political party in Mosul on Tuesday rose to 9 and 42 others were wounded, a police source from local police station told Xinhua.

    A suicide bomber blew up a explosive-laden truck in a parking lot near the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, in Mosul, about 400 km north of Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.

    The explosion also heavily damaged a building and set 17 cars on fire, the source said, adding that the injured people were sent to the local hospital for treatment.

    Last week, PUK's offices in Iraqi southern cities of Kerbala and Kut were also attacked by followers of a Basra-based Shi'ite cleric, who accused the Kurdish party's official newspaper of publishing an article claiming the cleric was fanning sectarian tension in Kirkuk.

    Talabani has said in a statement that he regretted the incidents and had not been aware of the article in the newspaper. Enditem