Gunmen opened fire on the convoy of the two men -- Delshad Abdelkarim Sufar and Nasih Rostom Mussa -- near a hospital in Tuz Kurmatu, Major Jaudat Mahmud told AFP.

One of their bodyguards was wounded.

The incident sparked tension in the city. Mussa, was a member of the provincial council and a popular figure in the Kurdish community.

Tuz Kurmatu, 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Baghdad, is inhabited by Turkmens, Kurds and to a lesser extent, by Arabs.

The Turkmens believe Tuz and its region is their traditional homeland and accuse the Kurds, who came from the neighbouring autonomous region of Kurdistan (northern Iraq) of pursuing a policy of colonisation.

Tuz Kurmatu is also 75 kilometres (46 miles) south of the city of Kirkuk, the scene of communal tensions among Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens. Kurds regard Kirkuk as their own.