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Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The death toll rose to 75 people killed and up to 160 others wounded in the two car bomb blasts in central Baghdad on Monday, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

Smoke rises from the site of two explosions in central Baghdad, Jan. 22, 2007. (Xinhua Photo)
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"The latest death toll of the two car bombings in central Baghdad is 75 people killed and 160 others wounded," the anonymous source said, adding that the latest number was collected from police patrols and local hospitals.

"The two blasts were caused by two car bombs parking in the commercial area of Bab al-Sharji at about 12:30 p.m. (0930 GMT)," the source told Xinhua earlier.

"The first blast went off in the busy market where vendors peddling DVDs and secondhand clothes and the other was just few meters away," he elaborated, adding that many civilian cars caught fire by the blasts and many nearby shops and buildings were damaged.

He said that ambulances, fire engines and Iraqi security forces rushed to the scene immediately to help evacuate the wounded and put out the fire.

A witness named Abu Haider, told Xinhua that "one car bomb went off near a police commando checkpoint on the road and the other detonated few meters away among many outdoor vendors in the open market."

"I saw nearly 30 people dead or severely wounded at the scene," Abu Haider said.

Earlier, a police report said that 52 people were killed and 77 others injured.

A new wave of violence raged across the capital during the past few days in the wake of an announcement by the Iraqi authorities and U.S. forces that they were going to carry out a new security plan in Baghdad to crack down on illegal militants from all sectors.

BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Four U.S. soldiers and a Marine were killed Saturday during combat in Anbar, a roadside bomb struck a security patrol northeast of Baghdad, killing one soldier, 12 soldiers died in a Blackhawk helicopter crash northeast of Baghdad, five were killed in a militant attack in the holy Shiite city of Karbala and two others slain elsewhere in roadside bombings as 25 soldiers were killed in the deadliest day for U.S. troops in Iraq in two years.