Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A suicide truck bomber struck a U.S.patrol in northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Thursday, damaging two U.S. Humvees, local police said.

    "A suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden refrigerator truck into a U.S. patrol at about 8:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) in the Muthanna neighborhood in eastern Mosul City and detonated it," a well-informed police source in the city told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    The U.S. troops cordoned off the area, preventing the local police from approaching, said the source, adding that two U.S.Humvees were totally destroyed.

    Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, has long been a bastion of insurgency against the U.S. troops.