Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Unknown gunmen killed a tribal leader in a drive-by shooting in the volatile Diyala province on Monday, a provincial police source said.

    "Abdul Ghafoor Abdullah, a chieftain of the Obeid clan in Diyala, was gunned down when unknown armed men showered his car with bullets while driving in the Abu-Seida area, some 70 km northeast of Baghdad," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    In separate incident, gunmen believed to be affiliated to al-Qaida organization stormed a house in the al-Bawashi village, south of Diyala's capital city of Baquba, and kidnapped four people, the source said.

    Diyala province, which stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border, has long been stronghold for al-Qaida in Iraq network.

    The attacks in Diyala province came as the U.S. and Iraqi security forces have been conducting major offensives against extremist Sunni and Shiite militiamen across the war-torn country.