2 Us Troops Oil Official Killed 21

2 US Troops, Oil Official killed;

21 Wounded in Rocket Attack

Reuters reports a string of attacks and mayhem yet again on Wednesday, with the petroleum industry a special target.

Guerrillas attacked a U.S. base near Balad in the Sunni heartland on Wednesday with rockets, killing two US troops and wounding 21 other persons.

Assassins in Kirkuk killed Ghazi Talabani, 70, who worked as a senior adviser in the North Oil Company. He is a second cousin of Kurdish political leader Jalal Talabani. The thinking is that this assassination is part of a set that included two high government officials this past weekend, aimed by insurgents at punishing collaborators with the Americans. But it could also have been aimed at the oil industry.

Then, saboteurs blew another two holes in the southern oil pipeline to Basra, just in case the holes made by bombs on Monday could be fixed in a timely manner.

Guerrillas also detonated a bomb in Ramadi, destroying an Iraqi police vehicle and a civilian automobile transporting foreigners. At least 6 Iraqis are dead, and some foreigners were also probably killed or wounded.