BAGHDAD, Feb. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- While Iraqi political leaders is making efforts to form a new government and defuse flaring sectarian violence that killed dozens of people in the past few days, a spate of violence and killings continued to grind the chaotic country.

A soldier is on guard on the street of Baghdad, capital of Iraq. [Xinhua/AFP]

    The Iraqi authorities imposed a 24-hour traffic ban in Baghdad and its suburbs after two days of curfew aimed at curbing the sectarian conflict sparked following Wednesday's bombing of one of the most revered Shiite shrines in Samarra.

    The movement restrictions proved to be effective in Baghdad. But elsewhere, bloodsheds continued.

    In Hilla, some 100 km south of Baghdad, five civilians were injured when a bomb detonated inside a minibus in a bus station. "An explosive charge detonated at about 10:20 a.m. (0720 GMT)inside a minibus in the station parking lot of Hilla city, 100 km south of Baghdad, where buses line up to pick up passengers," a police source told Xinhua.

    In central provinces of Salahudin, Diyala and Babil, traffic was open for the first time on Sunday after two days of daytime curfew.

    The U.S. military said that two of its soldiers were killed early on Sunday in a roadside bomb attack in western Baghdad. The roadside bomb hit a U.S. military vehicle at 2:50 a.m. on Sunday (2350 GMT on Saturday), immediately killing a soldier and severely wounding another who died later after he was rushed to a military hospital.

    The deadliest attack on Sunday was reported in southern Baghdad, where some eight mortar rounds struck a residential area, killing15 civilians and wounding dozens others, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

    Meanwhile, another mortar attack occurring in northern Baghdad.Three civilians were wounded when a mortar round landed on their house.

    In Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, unknown gunmen opened fire at a crowd of teenage boys in a football game, killing two of them and injuring six others, the Joint Coordination Center of Diyala said in a statement obtained by Xinhua. On the political front, Iraqi political leaders continued their uphill battle to seek national unity amid fears of civil war after the shrine bombing.