Special report: Tension accelerates in Iraq

    BAQUBA, Iraq, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Unknown gunmen killed 16 people and wounded 15 others in separate attacks on Wednesday in the volatile Iraqi province of Diyala, media office of the provincial police said.

    "A roadside bomb struck a minivan in the town of Buheiz near Baquba, killing six people, including three women and a child and wounding two other women," the office said in a statement.

    Another roadside bomb hit a passing police patrol in Maqdadiyah, some 100 km northeast of Baghdad, killing three civilians and wounding ten others, including three policemen, said the office, based in Baquba, in separate statement.

    A civilian was killed when he was attacked by unknown gunmen in the Gaton area west of Baquba, the statement added.

    Meanwhile, four policemen were killed and another wounded when a roadside bomb hit a passing police patrol in the Balad Ruz town, eastern Baquba, the office said.

    In separate incident, a traffic police was killed and a civilian wounded when gunmen opened fire at them in the Mafraq area in western Baquba.

    A sixteenth civilian was also killed and his son wounded in Abu Seida town northeast of Baquba, by unknown gunmen, the office added.

    Diyala province is part of Iraq's so-called Sunni Triangle, a bastion of insurgency against the U.S.-led occupation and a major scene for sectarian violence. Enditem