Baghdad/Tehran, July 29 (DPA) Eight people have been killed and more than 455 injured in clashes between Iraqi security forces and an armed Iranian rebel group in northwesten Iraq, authorities said Wednesday.

Abdel-Nasser al-Mahdawi, Governor of Iraq's northeastern Diyala province, told reporters that eight members of the People's Mujahidin of Iran (PMOI) organisation were killed and at least 425 others were injured Tuesday in clashes between the group and Iraqi policemen at Camp Ashraf, the group's base in Iraq.

Al-Mahdawi said that 30 members of the Iraqi security forces were also injured in the clashes, and that 50 more suffered from the effects of tear gas blown back at them by the wind.

Earlier Wednesday, Shahriar Kia, a spokesman for the exiled group, said that five people died of injuries sustained in the clashes at Camp Ashraf, and that 385 had been injured, 13 of them critically.

'This aggression is a clear violation of international conventions and the assurances of the governments of Iraq and the US regarding the protection of Ashraf residents,' PMOI leader Maryam Rajavi said in a statement released from Rome Wednesday.

Al-Mahdawi said police had arrived at the camp to establish a police station there, and responded with tear gas when camp residents tried to prevent them from entering.

Iraqi government Ali al-Dabbagh last week announced that the Iraqi government would assume control of the security and administration of the camp, following the transfer of responsibility for the camp's security from US to Iraqi forces.