Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    TIKRIT, Iraq, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- An American helicopter attacked a cluster of houses in a town in Salahudin province in north of Baghdad on Monday, killing six people and wounding 35 others, a provincial police source said.

    A U.S. airborne force conducted a predawn raid on the southern part of the town of Duluiyah, 90 km north of Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.

    The incident took place when a U.S. foot-patrol was attacked by gunmen from three adjacent houses near the Tigris River on the eastern edge of the town, the source said.

    The attack prompted the U.S. patrol, backed by helicopters, to return fire on the sources of the fire, killing six people and wounding 20 others, including women and children, the source added. The U.S. military did not confirm the incident yet.

    Separately, the Iraqi police found five bodies for Iraqi soldiers near the town of Sherqat, 280 km north of Baghdad, in Salahudin province, the source said.

    The soldiers were kidnapped earlier on Sunday on the main road between Mosul and Tikrit in northern Iraq, he added.