Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- A driver of a municipal official was killed and four civilians were injured in two bomb explosions in Baghdad on Saturday, an Interior Ministry source said.

    An explosive-charge stuck to the car of the head of municipal office of Mansour district detonated in Baghdad's western neighborhood of Yarmouk, killing the driver and wounding a bystander, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    The attack took place in the morning when the driver was heading to the residence of the official to take him for work, the source said.

    In a separate incident, three civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb went off near a primary school in the al-Furat neighborhood in southwestern Baghdad, the source added.

    Sporadic bombings continue in Baghdad despite the announcement of the U.S. and Iraqi officials about a steep drop of violence in recent months.