Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq    

    MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Insurgent groups attacked on Sunday four churches for Iraqi Christian minority in the city of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province, a provincial police source said.

    A car bomb parked near the Maryam al-Adhra' Church northeastern of Mosul detonated, wounding four people and damaging parts of the building, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    Another booby-trapped car parked near the Mar Yousif Church in the Muhandiseen neighborhood in northern the city detonated and damaged outer fence and parts of the church, the source said.

    In western Mosul, an explosive charge went off in a monastery in the Mosul al-Jadida neighborhood, damaging part of the deserted building without human casualty, he said.

    A fourth bomb attack took place in the Meskantah Church in the Khazraj neighborhood in central the city, causing damages in the building, added the source.

    The attacks against the Christian minority came as part of the religious and sectarian violence that ravaged the Iraqi cities, including Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad.