Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    

Residents stand at the scene of bomb attacks in Baghdad Nov. 19, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

BAGHDAD, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- A roadside bomb went off near a police patrol in eastern Baghdad on Sunday, killing three policemen and wounding three others, a well-informed police source said.

    "A makeshift bomb detonated shortly after 11:00 a.m. (0800 GMT) at Zaiyounah neighborhood while a police patrol was passing by," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    Insurgents frequently attack Iraqi security forces, accusing them of collaborating with U.S. occupation forces.

    Earlier in the day, a suicide car bombing attacked a crowd of construction workers in the Iraqi city of Hilla, some 100 km south of Baghdad, killing 22 and wounding 44 others, many of them were seriously wounded, according to the police.

    The suicide bomber in his mini-van pretended he was a contractor and wanted to hire construction workers. When they crowded around him, he blew up his explosive-laden mini-van, the source said.

    The workers were waiting to be hired for a daylong work in a yard when the blast took place, said the police.

    Hilla, a mainly Shiite town, had remained a relatively peaceful area in the violent central and western regions of Iraq.