A suicide car bomb went off outside a police station in Iraq's northern city of Mosul on Sunday, killing four people and wounding 34, sources said.

The car bomb blew up at 8:05 AM (04:05 GMT) before it reached the police station in the eastern area of Mosul, the sources said.

The victims were police, and the wounded included both police and civilians, with some of whom critically hurt, they added.

The blast destroyed the entrance of the building and some nearby vehicles.

The attack came after another suicide bombing outside a police unit in Baquba, which killed 70 and wounded dozens on Wednesday.

Mosul, a major northern city of Iraq, was rattled last Monday when a car bombing before the US military base in the city killed four.

The fledgling Iraqi police forces often fell victims to insurgent attacks for they are considered collaborating with the occupation forces.

Hundreds of Iraqis have been killed or wounded in various attacks since sovereignty was formally handed over to an interim Iraqi government on June 28.

(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2004)