Iraqi police say insurgents have assassinated the security chief for oil fields in the region around the northern city of Kirkuk.
Local authorities say Ghazi Talabani was gunned down Wednesday, as he headed to work.
In southern Iraq, insurgents have blown up oil pipelines, interrupting oil exports. An Iraqi official says it could take more than a week to fix the pipelines.
Meanwhile, a bomb blew up at least two vehicles in Ramadi, wounding several people. Some reports say at least one Iraqi was killed.
In another development, radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr issued a statement Wednesday asking members of his Mehdi army who are not from Najaf to leave the Shi'ite holy city and go to their home regions.