Special report: Tensions accelerate in Iraq

    

Iraqis gather at the scene of a car bomb attack near a bridge in central Baghdad May 26, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters)

BAGHDAD, May 26 (Xinhua) -- The death toll has risen to at least nine in a car bomb explosion in a busy popular market in central Baghdad on Friday, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

    "Nine people were killed and more than 30 wounded in the powerful blast in Souq al-Jumaa open market in Nahdha area," the source said on condition of anonymity.

    Earlier, the ministry said that five were killed in the blast.

    Meanwhile, 23 people were wounded in three roadside bombs in western and southern Baghdad districts, a ministry source said,adding that police also found three unidentified bodies in Baghdad's northern district of al-Shaab.

    Violence and sectarian reprisal attacks have mounted in the war-torn country despite the formation of a new government. Enditem