Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces discovered thousands of chemical materials used as explosive booster in manufacturing homemade bombs in Salahudin province, a police source said on Thursday.

    Based on intelligence reports, a police force found Wednesday 800 of 30-liter containers filled with 24,000 liters of ammonium nitrate hidden in rifts in the open area west of Samarra city, 120km north of Baghdad, the provincial police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    The materials have been destroyed at the site without causing casualties, the source said.

    The Sunni dominated province has been relatively calm despite frequent attacks carried out mainly by al-Qaida militants and insurgent groups against Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops.