Special report:Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, March 17 (Xinhua) -- At least two policemen were killed and five people injured in a car bomb attack in western Baghdad on Saturday, an Interior Ministry source said.

At least two policemen were killed and five people wounded including two policemen when a car bomb struck a police checkpoint on the main road near Baghdad International Fair in al-Harthiya neighborhood, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The number of the death toll is initial and could rise, the source added.

    Earlier Saturday, unidentified gunmen killed two Iraqi police officers in al-Bayaa neighborhood in southern Baghdad. Meanwhile, in Mosul, capital of Ninawa province, 400 km north of Baghdad, an Iraqi policeman was killed and another wounded earlier Saturday when a roadside bomb went off near a passing police patrol.

    Insurgents have launched attacks on Iraqi security forces to counterbalance their all-out offensive in Baghdad and other cities aimed at curbing violence in the war-torn country.