Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq     

    BAGHDAD, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S.-Iraqi forces killed 20 militants in clashes with militiamen loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr early Sunday, the U.S. military said.

    The clashes occurred when the coalition forces conducted a combat operation on Sunday morning in the Shiite city of Diwaniyahin response to an attack with rocket-propelled grenades.

    Fierce clashes between U.S.-Iraqi forces and the Mehdi militiamen broke out at about 1:00 a.m. (2200 GMT Saturday), witnesses told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    "Two roadside bombs detonated near a passing U.S. patrol in the Salim Street in the Jamhuriyah neighborhood, damaging two U.S. tanks," the witnesses said.

    Diwaniyah, some 130 km south of Baghdad, was the scene of fierce clashes between the Mehdi army and Iraqi forces in August, in which dozens of militiamen and Iraqi soldiers were killed. Enditem