Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Two Iraqi civilians were killed and 18 people, including six policemen, injured on Wednesday in separate roadside bomb explosions in central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

    "Two civilians were killed and ten others wounded when a roadside bomb struck a sport utility vehicle (SUV), carrying employees from Baghdad provincial council, near the Firdus Square,in Karrada district, in central the capital" the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    Four of the employees were among the wounded people, the source said, adding the blast destroyed the vehicle and also caused damages to several nearby civilian cars.

    In a separate incident, four policemen were injured by another roadside bomb explosion occurred near their vehicle in the Andulus Square in the same district, the source said.

    Also in Karrada, two more civilians were injured in the day by another roadside bomb explosion in the Nithal Street in Karrada, he said.

    Meanwhile, two police commando members were wounded when a third roadside bomb went off near their patrol in Baghdad northeastern district of Shaab, he added.

    The blasts came as the Iraqi parliament is set to vote on the long-waited security pact between Baghdad and Washington that would be a road map for the U.S. troops withdrawal from Iraq in three years.