Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq     

    BAGHDAD, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed and 13 others wounded in a car bomb explosion in eastern Baghdad on Wednesday, an Interior Ministry source said.

    "A booby-trapped car parked in the neighborhood of al-Ghadeer detonated in the afternoon, killing at least five people and wounding 13 others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    The blast also damaged several nearby civilian cars and buildings, the source said.

    In an early deadly attack, the death toll from the triple car bombing in the city of Amara, some 360 km southeast of Baghdad, rose to 42 with 125 others wounded, according to a ministry source.

    The first car bomb detonated shortly after 10:00 a.m. (0700 GMT)in the parking lot in the Dijla thoroughfare in central Amara, the source said.

    A few minutes later, a second car bomb went off outside the parking lot, where many people gathered to examine the damages from the first blast, he said.

    Shortly after, the third car bomb detonated near the gate of a movie theater in the thoroughfare, the source added.

    Abdul Kareem Khalaf, the spokesman of the Interior Ministry, said that the police chief in Amara was fired and an immediate traffic ban was imposed on the city, as the Iraqi security forces deployed in the streets.

    Amara, capital of southern Iraq's Maysan Province, is located some 360 km southeast of Baghdad, and is bordering Iran.