Special report:Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, March 17 (Xinhua) -- An Iraqi policeman was killed and another wounded Saturday when a roadside bomb went off near a passing police patrol in Mosul, 400 km north of Baghdad, a local police source said.

    "A roadside bomb detonated at about 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) while an Iraqi police patrol was passing by in al-Wihda neighborhood in southeastern Mosul," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    It damaged a police vehicle and killed one policeman and wounded another aboard, said the source, adding the blast also damaged several nearby houses.

    Mosul, capital of Ninawa province, has long been a hotspot for insurgency against U.S.-led troops and Iraqi security forces.