Baghdad- A policeman and a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) were killed on Saturday in armed clashes north-east of Baghdad, security sources said.

The fighting broke out when Emergency Police officers raided KDP headquarters in the city of Jalawlaa, some 125 kilometres north-east of Baghdad in the tense Khanaqin district in Diyala province and arrested two of the KDP's members.

A group from the KDP headed to the Emergency Police headquarters to liberate the two arrested men, but clashes erupted, leaving a KDP member and a policeman killed. Two policemen were wounded.

Khanaqin district has been rife with tension since late August when Iraqi army units were deployed there to bolster security.

Kurdish leaders rejected the Iraqi army operation, arguing that the area was Kurdish and therefore under the protection of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Iraqi forces withdrew from Khanaqin a week later after an agreement between the Kurdish government and the Iraqi central government. (dpa)