Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- A roadside bomb went off near a police patrol in southern Baghdad on Tuesday, wounding eight people, including three policemen, a police source said.

    The blast took place in the afternoon when a police patrol was passing the al-Masbah intersection in Karradah district, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    The blast also damaged a police vehicle and several other nearby civilian cars, the source said.

    Early in the day, a car bomb parked near the Mohammad al-Baqir Shiite mosque in Baghdad al-Jadida district in southern the capital, detonated and caused slight damages in nearby houses.

    Sporadic attacks continue in Baghdad despite the relative lull of violence across the war-torn country, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.