Gunmen shot dead Ghazi Talabani, the top security official for the Iraqi Northern Oil company on Wednesday, in the city of Kirkuk, north of the capital, Qatar-based al-Jazeera satellite channel reported.

He was ambushed as he was traveling to his work in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, the channel said.

Three gunmen shot at Talabani's car after his bodyguards briefly left the vehicle in a crowded market. One of his bodyguards was also wounded, it added.

The security official was the cousin of Jalal Talabani, the leader of one of the two main Kurdish political parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

Talabani is the third official this month to be killed in Iraq as violence stepped up ahead of the June 30 handover of power from the US-led coalition.

Gunmen killed an Education Ministry official Sunday, and Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Bassam Kubba was killed on June 12.

So far, nobody or group has claimed responsibility for Kubba's death.

Kirkuk is a key political obstacle to new Iraq. Its population are made up of Kurds, Trackmen, Arabs and Christians. Rivalry among the three Muslim ethnic groups has led to bloodshed in recent months.