Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Gunmen attacked and set fire on three Sunni mosques south of Baghdad on Thursday in apparent reprisal attacks after the minarets of a revered Shiite shrine were blew up, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

    Unidentified militants attacked and burned down the al-Mustafaand Huteen mosques in the town of Iskandariya, south of Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity, adding the nearby al-Bashir mosques was also destroyed.

    No casualties are reported immediately in the attacks, the source said.

    The Sunni Grand Mosque in Iskandariya was destroyed on Wednesday hours after insurgents blew up two minarets of the ImamAli al-Hadi shrine in Samarra City, some 120 north of Baghdad.

    The holy shrine's famous golden dome was destroyed in February2006 that triggered a wave of retaliatory sectarian violence, pushing the country to a full-scale civil war.

    The destruction of the remaining minarets raised immediately fears of a new round of tit-for-tat attacks between rival sects. Fearing further violence, Iraqi authorities imposed a curfew in the capital starting from 15:00 p.m. (1100 GMT) on Wednesday until further notice. Till now, the capital is still under indefinite curfew.

    Some residents said the critical security measure only can curb the violence in a short term and the capital would witness a spike of sectarian violence after the curfew.