Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    MOSUL, Iraq, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi authorities imposed a curfew on the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Saturday following fierce clashes between gunmen and security forces, an Iraqi army officer said.

    Governor of the Nineveh province Duraid Kashmolah imposed the curfew on Mosul City, the capital of his province, and ordered the Iraqi security forces to deploy in the city to fight hundreds of gunmen hid in the neighborhoods.

    "We have received reports saying that gunmen intensified their appearance in the neighborhoods around the provincial government compound in the morning attempting to seize the buildings," Brigadier Mutaa al-Khazraji, an army commander in the city told Xinhua.

    Fierce clashes erupted in several parts of the city while the U.S. troops were called in to provide support for the Iraqi forces, Khazraji said.

    Witnesses told Xinhua that the U.S. aircraft flew over the city while U.S. ground troops deployed at the entrances of the city were fighting fiercely with the insurgents. ¡¡