A wave of violence continues to sweep across Iraq, the latest incidents causing the death of 18 people in Baquba on Thursday, 50 kilometers northeast of Baghdad.

At least 13 Iraqis died after a suicide attacker rammed his explosives-filled car into a police station in the small town of Hibhib where several recruits were lined up.

Six policemen were killed and  several other people injured by the fierce blast that occurred in the mainly Sunni town neighbouring Baquba, the capital city of the Diyala governorate.

Another similar attack took place in Baquba, where a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near a police station, killing five police officers and injuring seven more, security sources informed.

Violence in the province has been increasing in the past period despite a surge of governmental and coalition troops. Authorities said that most of the insurgents are members of the notorious al-Qaeda militant organization that fled Baghdad and neighbouring provinces when the Iraq invasion began.

In other developments, the US military reported the death of three soldiers on Thursday. One trooper was killed and two injured when an explosive device went off near their vehicle in Basra on Wednesday, the second largest city of Iraq and its main port.

Two other soldiers were the victims of a mortar attack launched against their unit on Tuesday, the US army informed without offering further details.