The fighting began when gunmen ambushed the patrol in the northern part of the predominantly Shiite city, setting a Humvee alight as explosions and gunfire radiated across neighboring areas.
"The clashes are still ongoing," said a police official who asked not to be named.
Hamid Jaati, the local director of public health, said he had appealed to Baqubah city authorities to allow ambulances into the areas where the fighting was taking place as he feared there were some civilian casualties.
"No health team can reach people in the area of the clashes because it's very severe. We don't know how many have been wounded or killed," Jaati said.
He said that he had received reports that several students were wounded while sitting for final exams at a nearby secondary school for girls.
Salman al-Sheikh Bakr, a high ranking education official, said at least four examination centers had been hit in the exchanges of fire and that several people had been wounded.
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