Clashes after Iraqi force raids governor's office

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An unidentified Iraqi security forces unit raided a provincial governor's office early on Tuesday, killing the governor's secretary and clashing with other units in one of the most volatile parts of Iraq.

Diyala province's Governor Raad Rasheed Mulla Jawad, who survived a bomb attack last week, said a counter-terrorism unit had stormed his office at 2:30 a.m. (1230 GMT), killed secretary Abbas Ali Hmoud and arrested a member of the provincial council.

"The body of the martyr will stay in the building until the killers are captured," the governor told Reuters. The governor was not present in the building during the raid.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the raid, which comes at a time of mounting political turmoil in one of the country's most violent provinces.

The men who conducted the raid arrived in military vehicles and wore uniforms but were not otherwise identifiable.

A U.S. military spokesman said: "The operation on the Diyala governance centre early this morning was done without the knowledge or assistance of coalition forces."

He said an American helicopter was nearby but did not fire.

After the force left the governor's office it clashed with Iraqi army and police units in the provincial capital Baquba.

A source at the governor's office said four policemen and two civilians were wounded in the fighting before the raiding force withdrew.