A bomb in the southern Philippines city of Davao has left at least 15 people dead and many others injured, police said.

The blast occurred as passengers were leaving a ferry terminal at the Sasa wharf near Davao city, officials said.

Davao, about 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) south of Manila, was the scene of a March bombing in which 22 people died.

Guide to Philippines conflicts

The head of investigation at the Philippine National Police, Brigadier-General Eduardo Matillano, told Reuters news agency he believed the blast was the work of a terrorist.

"It is a bomb explosion. I believe it is a terrorist attack," he was quoted as saying.

Police said at least 30 people were wounded.

The attack came less than a month after another bomb left 23 people dead and more than 150 others injured at Davao international airport.

Arrest warrants for that blast have been issued for leaders of a Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The MILF agreed to hold peace talks with the government on Sunday, after an initial two-day meeting between both sides in Malaysia, aimed at ending the recent fighting which has wracked the south of the country.

Davao is the largest city on the island of Mindanao, and has a largely Christian population. Until the March attack, it had a reputation for relative calm.

Mindanao is mired in factional fighting, with government troops clashing regularly with Muslim separatist rebels.

The rebels have been fighting for a separate Muslim homeland in the southern Philippines for three decades.