Two dead, 24 wounded in blast by Mosul University

At least two people were killed and 24 wounded in a car bomb explosion in Mosul, a northern city in Iraq, on Thursday, Reuters reported.

A vehicle parked near Mosul University, in the centre of the city, was filled with explosives, police have said.

Mosul was recaptured by Iraqi forces from the Islamic State group in a violent 8-month battle in 2017 with the support of the US military. It has seen several bomb blasts in recent months, including one which killed four in November.

Iraq is facing a recent spate of bombings and kidnappings that have raised concerns about security in the country.

Security analysts say militants have adopted insurgent-style tactics in their attacks since Islamic State was defeated in Iraq in 2017, Reuters said.

The brutal fight to recapture Mosul left Iraq's third biggest city in ruins, with thousands killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Mosul has experienced a renaissance since it was recaptured, with residents rebuilding their homes and reopening cultural centres. Many gathered in December to lay the cornerstone for the reconstruction of Mosul's Al-Nuri mosque and leaning minaret, national emblems destroyed in the ferocious battle against IS.

IS fighters first swept into Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014. At the height of the group's power its self-proclaimed caliphate stretched from the edges of Aleppo in Syria to just north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

It is now fighting to hold on to its last square mile in the village of Baghouz in eastern Syria.

More than 1.8 million Iraqis remain displaced across the country, and a staggering 8 million require some form of humanitarian aid, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Those with suspected links to IS have been rejected by their communities, while thousands of children fathered by IS militants - including those born to enslaved Yazidi women - are still unrecognised by the state.