At least 30 people have been injured after a car bomb exploded outside an Iraqi army base in the northern city of Mosul.

Among the wounded at the army compound on Wednesday, were 18 soldiers, five police officers and 10 civilians, police said.

The explosion, which took place at 10am (07:00 GMT), was also close to the city's Al-Zuhoor police station .

Al Jazeera sources said police were alerted of another car bomb, this time in the centre of Mosul city, 350km north of Baghdad, but that device was defused.

While overall violence in Iraq has dropped sharply following years of sectarian conflict that killed tens of thousands of people, bombings and assassinations still occur on a daily basis.

US and Iraqi officials have said they expect attacks to rise before parliamentary elections scheduled for March 7.