Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- A civilian was killed and 13 others were injured in two bomb explosions in central Baghdad on Thursday, an Interior Ministry source said.

    An explosive charge stuck in a KIA minibus carrying passengers detonated in the morning in a Baghdad highway, killing a passenger and wounding seven others aboard, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    The magnetic kind bomb badly damaged the minibus and two nearby civilian cars, the source said.

    Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area to secure the scene while ambulances evacuated the victims to nearby hospitals, the source added.

    In a separate incident, a roadside bomb went off near a police patrol in the Nidhal Street in Karrada district, wounding four policemen and two civilians, he said.

    A police vehicle was also damaged by the blast, he added.

    The attacks came a day after a spate of deadly attacks that claimed the lives of dozens of Iraqis, despite the fact that violence has dropped dramatically in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities in recent months.