Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- An Iraqi official Monday escaped with wounds a roadside bomb attack near his house in northern Baghdad which killed three people and injured 10 others, an Interior ministry source said.

    "Mudhir al-Mawla, an advisor in the Iraqi cabinet, was seriously injured when a roadside bomb struck his convoy near his house in the al-Suleikh neighborhood," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    Mawla's driver and two bystanders were killed by the blast which also wounded 10 people, including two of his bodyguards, the source added.

    The explosion also destroyed two of the convoy's vehicles and caused damages to nearby houses, he said.

    Assassinations and bomb attacks have increased recently in Baghdad despite relative lull in violence during the past months.