MOSUL (Iraq) - A SUICIDE car bomb struck a US military patrol on a busy street in Iraq's northern city of Mosul on Sunday, wounding at least 34 bystanders, police said.

Police did not know of any deaths, nor whether any US soldiers in the convoy were also casualties of the blast, which destroyed several cars and local shops.

Violence across Iraq has risen in the past two months after nearly a year of decline, as militants seek to regain lost ground.

Mosul is plagued by a stubborn insurgency, despite repeated efforts to stamp it out.

It is seen as Sunni Islamist al Qaeda's last remaining urban stronghold, after they were kicked out of many parts of Baghdad and western Anbar province by US troops allied with local Sunni Arab tribal militias in 2007.

Easily-made car bombs are a favourite tactic of insurgents in Mosul, one of Iraq's most congested cities. -- REUTERS