Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Three roadside bombs detonated in different parts of Baghdad on Saturday, killing an Iraqi policeman and wounding seven others, an Interior Ministry source said.

    The source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that the first roadside bomb went off near a police patrol in Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad around midday, damaging a police vehicle, killing a policeman and wounding two others on board.

    Almost in the meantime, another roadside bomb went off near the Rowad intersection in Mansur neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, wounding three civilians, the source said.

    A third roadside bomb detonated at about 10:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) in a commercial street in Baghdad's southern district of Baiyaa, wounding two civilians, he said, adding the blast damaged several nearby shops and civilian cars.

    Separately, fierce clashes broke out between Iraqi soldiers and insurgents in the Sunni neighborhood of Fadhel in downtown Baghdad, the source said without providing details about casualties as the troops sealed off the area.

    Violence persists in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities despite the presence of tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers across the country in a major security crackdown aimed at curbing insurgency and sectarian violence in the war-torn country.