In Iraq, 15 people were killed and 22 injured in a car bomb blast near a mosque in Baquba. According to a police spokesman in Diyala province, the explosion took place in a market near a mosque in Abi Seida district of eastern Baaquba. He added that the blast caused the collapse of a residential building. Women and children are among the causalities. Baaquba is the capital of Diala, which lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad. AIR West Asia correspondent reports that a US soldier was killed in Diyala province in Iraq in a separate incident. It was the third deadly attack this week in Iraq's northern Diyala province. Police have said the blast was so powerful that caused the partial collapse of a building, damaged some houses and set several cars ablaze. Women and children were among the victims and wounded have been taken to hospitals in Baquba. Continuing violence in Iraq underscores the fragile nature of country’s security at a time when US troops are preparing to leave and Iraq is in its fifth month without a government. Many Iraqis worry that insurgents are trying to use this period to ignite violence in the different parts of country.