Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and two others injured in mortar barrage on Baghdad neighborhood on Saturday, an Interior Ministry source said.

    "Several mortar rounds landed on Baghdad's southern neighborhood of Bayaa, killing three civilians and wounding two more," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The attack damaged several buildings and civilian cars, the source said.

    Another mortar attack hit the Ur neighborhood in northeast of the capital, badly damaged a house but caused no human casualty, he added.

    Violence continued in the capital despite a major U.S. and Iraqi security offensive designed to curtail violence.