Twelve were killed and 24 wounded when a booby-trapped car was detonated Wednesday in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, local police source said.

The explosion occurred near a health center in the town of Abu Sayeeda north of Baquba, capital city of Diyala. Besides the casualties, a building collapsed shortly after the attack, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Some reports said the death toll was around 30, but Mohammed Hussan, mayor of the town, denied the reports when he received the interview of Xinhua.

Sporadic violence and waves of high-profile attacks are still common in the Iraqi cities nearly five months after the country held its landmark parliamentary election which is widely expected to shape the political landscape of the war-torn country.

Diyala province, which stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border east of the country, has long been a stronghold for al-Qaida militants and other insurgent groups since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 despite repeated U.S. and Iraqi military operations against them.