Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Twenty insurgents were killed and 30 others captured in fierce clashes with a local tribe backed by the U.S. and Iraqi forces in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi police said.

    The clashes erupted Friday night when the al-Ubaidi Sunni tribe in the town of Khalis, 75 km northeast of Baghdad, were attacked by a group of unidentified insurgents, a police source from Diyala province told Xinhua.

    The fighting, which is still underway, has resulted in the killing of 20 insurgents and the capturing of 30 others, the source added.

    Residents in the town, often blame al-Qaida group in Iraq for deadly attacks after rifts emerged between Sunni tribes and al-Qaida's militants.

    Al-Qaida's adherence to a hard line form of Sunni Islam, indiscriminate and mass killings have brought it into conflict with some Sunni tribes in the Diyala and other Iraqi areas, particularly Anbar province in western Iraq.

    Khalis is located in Diyala province, which stretches from Baghdad to the Iranian border to the east, has long been the hotbed of insurgency and sectarian violence since the U.S.-led invasion broke out in 2003.

    Since June 19, more than 10,000 troops, including 2,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen, backed by U.S. aircraft, have been launching a massive assault to hunt for the al-Qaida militants operating in the volatile province.