Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq     

    BAGHDAD, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Eleven people, including eight policemen, were injured in two roadside bomb explosions targeted police patrols in the Iraqi capital on Sunday, an Interior Ministry source said.

    "A roadside bomb struck a police patrol at about 8:30 a.m. (0530 GMT) in the Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad, wounding five policemen and two bystanders," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    A police vehicle was badly damaged by the blast which also caused damages to several nearby shops and civilian cars, the source added.

    Another roadside went off near a police patrol near an intersection in Baghdad's northern neighborhood of Waziriya, wounding three policemen and a civilian along with damaging one of the patrol's vehicles.

    Iraqi security forces cordoned off the two areas to secure the scenes while ambulances evacuated the wounded people to nearby hospitals, he added.

    Violence has dropped to a four-year low in Iraq, while sporadicroadside bombs, car bombings and suicide attacks are still haunting the Iraqis.