( AP )- A roadside bomb struck a convoy carrying the police chief of a predominantly Shiite province south of Baghdad on Sunday, killing him and two of his bodyguards, police said.
It was the latest in a series of assassinations against provincial leaders in the mainly Shiite region south of the capital as militias and other factions battle for control of the area with an eye toward the eventual withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.
The explosion, which occurred in Babil province's capital of Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, killed Brig. Gen. Qais al-Maamouri and two guards, a local officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.
Police announced an indefinite curfew and the streets quickly emptied of residents amid fears of arrests and clashes in the wake of the killings.
Two southern provincial governors were killed this summer, Gov. Mohammed Ali al-Hassani of Muthanna and his colleague Gov. Khalil Jalil Hamza in neighboring Qadasiyah province, raising fears of a violent power struggle among Shiite factions in the oil-rich area.
Militants also have targeted local Iraqi government officials to try to intimidate those they accuse of collaborating with the U.S. and Iraqi governments.
Underscoring that danger, the head of the Ninevah provincial council survived an assassination attempt in the northern city of Mosul. A roadside bomb exploded near a car carrying Hisham al-Hamdani, police said. Nobody was wounded in the attack.