Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

   BAGHDAD, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Six people were killed and 14 others wounded on Monday after Shiite militiamen pounded a U.S.military base and a joint security center in southern Iraq's Diwaniyah city, some 180 km south of Baghdad, a local police source said.

    Early in the morning, Shiite militiamen of the Mahdi Army,loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, fired some dozen mortar rounds on the U.S.-run base and a nearby joint security center, which is run by U.S., Iraqi and Polish forces in Diwaniyah,the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    The U.S. troops in the base traded mortar rounds with the attackers, the source said, adding the clashes resulted in the killing of six people and the wounding of 14 others, along with damaging several houses and civilian cars.

    The U.S. military has no immediate comment on the incident.  

    Diwaniyah, the capital of the al-Qadsiyah province, has been a flashpoint for rival Shiite factions battling for supremacy in the region.

    It has also regularly seen heavy clashes between Shiite militiamen with U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces.