Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and three others wounded in a car bomb explosion at a crowded area in the city of Mosul on Wednesday, a local police source said.

    The blast targeted an Iraqi army patrol in the Zanjili neighborhood in central Mosul, killing a soldier and a civilian and wounded three civilians, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    A military vehicle was damaged by the blast, along with several nearby civilian cars and buildings in the impoverished neighborhood, the source said.

    Nineveh province, with its capital city Mosul some 400 km north of Baghdad, is said to be one of the last strongholds of al-Qaida fighters in the war-torn country.

    The province has been the scene of a major security crackdown carried out by U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces aimed at uprooting al-Qaida militants and other anti-U.S. insurgent groups.