A car bomb went off on Sunday outside a house used by an Iraqi Shiite militia in the southern city of Basra, killing two people and wounding three others, an Interior Ministry source said.

"A booby-trapped car exploded at about 7:30 AM (04:30 GMT) outside a three-story building in central Basra. The building houses members of the Badr organization," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

"The blast killed two people, including a child, and wounded three others," the source said.

The attack came as tensions rise among the rival Shiite factions as well as between Shiites and the British troops in Basra, some 550 km south of Baghdad.

Last month, British troops stormed a police jail in Basra to free two of their soldiers who had been arrested by Iraqi police. At least five Iraqis were reportedly killed in the action.

The Iranian-trained Badr militia is associated with Iraq's leading Shiite party, the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution.

(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2005)