Gunmen killed a senior official in Iraq's trade ministry in Baghdad on Sunday, police said, according to Reuters. Ali Mousa Salman, director general of the ministry, was killed after leaving his home in central Baghdad. His driver was also killed and three other people were injured.
Elsewhere. a roadside bomb blast Sunday killed one Iraqi civilian and injured another near Oyoun, a village west of the city of Kirkuk, said army Maj. Gen. Anwar Mohammed Amin.
These attacks came a day after a top US official said that assualts targeting oil lines, electricity plants and other infrastructure projects vital to Iraq's reconstruction have delayed U.S.-led rebuilding efforts and raised the cost of doing business in this country.
Bill Taylor, director of the U.S.-led Iraq Reconstruction Management Office, said ceaseless attacks on contractors and facilities have also increased security demands, with up to 16 percent of all project costs now being spent on hiring armed guards, improving site protection and providing equipment like hardened vehicles and telecommunications systems.
