Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq     

    BAGHDAD, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Gunmen kidnapped an Iraqi senior official in front of his house in eastern Baghdad on Thursday, an Interior Ministry source said.

    "Dozens of gunmen attacked the house of Tahseen al-Sheikhly, the civil spokesman of the security plan dubbed Enforcing the Law, and kidnapped him in front of his house in the Amin neighborhood," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    The attackers seized the arms of Shiekhly's guards and destroyed two of his vehicles outside his house before they fled the scene, the source said.

    The Enforcing the Law security plan has first been launched by the Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops on Feb. 14 last year. The plan aimed at curbing insurgency and sectarian violence.

    The incident came as Shiite Mahdi Army militiamen fought U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces and fierce clashes spread in several Iraqi cities, including Baghdad, killing and wounding hundreds of Iraqis.