Thousands of Christians protested in northern Iraq on Monday to condemn a bomb attack on a bus carrying students and workers which left one person dead and 80 wounded.

"We are not a minority, we are an authentic part of the Iraqi people," said a banner at the demonstration. "We ask the prime minister (Nuri al-Maliki) to stop the tragedy of the Christians," it added.

The attack, comprising a car bomb and an improvised explosive device, took place on a highway about three kilometres east of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province, on Sunday.

Monday's protest in Hamdaniyah, a Christian area, from where the bombing's victims had been travelling to the University of Mosul.

Church leaders, supported by Arab tribes, led between 2,500-3,000 people at the demonstration.

"The government is silent and is doing nothing about (the trouble) we face," said Basim Sameer, a 47-year-old engineer.

In November, the New York-based Human Rights Watch warned that minorities including Christians were the collateral victims of a conflict between Arabs and Kurds over control of disputed oil-rich provinces in northern Iraq.

While sectarian violence has dropped dramatically across Iraq since its peak between 2005 and 2007, attacks remain common, especially in Baghdad and Mosul.

AFP