Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    CAIRO, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Al-Qaida-linked insurgents in Iraq claimed responsibility on Thursday for ambushing a three-vehicle convoy in western Baghdad on Wednesday during which three foreigners and an Iraqi were killed.

    The insurgents posted a statement on a website regularly used by Al-Qaida in Iraq, saying that in an attack with light and medium weapons and RPG rockets in the Yarmouk area in Baghdad on Jan. 17 ... two vehicles belonging to Israel's Mossad were destroyed and a third one severely damaged.

    The authenticity of the statement could not be verified.

    Gunmen opened fire at a three-vehicle convoy on Wednesday in Yarmouk, a predominantly Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad, killing a U.S. national, a Croatian and a Hungarian along with an Iraqi guard, security sources said.

    The female U.S. citizen had worked for the National Democratic Institute (NDI), a non-governmental organization that provides support for political parties in Iraq, according to a NDI official.

    The Croatian, Hungarian and Iraqi were guards working for the Australian security agency Unity Resources Group (URG), the sources said.

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Five killed in triple car bomb attacks in Baghdad market

A thick plume of smoke rises in Baghdad, Jan.18, 2007. A car bomb attack in central Baghdad has killed at least 4 people and wounded 10, a security official said.((Xinhua Photo)   Photo Gallery>>>

    BAGHDAD, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Three car bombs detonated in a market in southern Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least five people and wounding 15 others, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

PM: better-equipped Iraqi army helps U.S. cut military in Iraq

    LONDON, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United States could reduce its military presence in Iraq in a few months if it provides sufficient weapons to the Iraqi army, said Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in an article published on Thursday.

Attacks in Baghdad kill at least 103

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    BAGHDAD, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- A series of deadly attacks in Baghdad killed at least 103 people and injured more that 240 on Tuesday, casting shadows on security operation between the Iraqi government and U.S. forces to curb violence.

UN: More than 34,000 Iraqis killed in 2006

    BAGHDAD, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations said Tuesday that more than 34,000 Iraqis were killed and about 35,600 people wounded in 2006.

Backgrounder: Major bombing attacks in Iraq since March 2003

    BAGHDAD, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- A series of deadly attacks in Baghdad killed at least 103 people and injured more that 240 on Tuesday, casting a shadow on security operation between the Iraqi government and U.S. forces to curb violence.

    The following are major bombing attacks in Iraq since the outbreak of the Iraq war in March 2003 (in time descending order).