U.S. contractor, soldier killed in rocket attack on Green Zone

BAGHDAD -- Two Americans, a contractor and a soldier, were killed in a rocket attack on the heavy guarded Green Zone on Tuesday, according to statements from the U.S. Embassy and the military.

Five other people were wounded, one contractor who was seriously hurt and three with slight wounds. A second soldier also was wounded in the attack, but the military did not give a condition.

Insurgents and militia fighters routinely fire rockets and mortars into the Green Zone, the nominally secure area in central Baghdad that is site of the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government and parliament. The attacks seldom cause casualties or damage because they are poorly aimed and the zone contains much open space.

"It is with a profound sense of sadness and regret that we announce the loss of a U.S. Government contractor as the result of a rocket attack on the International Zone in Baghdad, Iraq," Charge d'Affairs Daniel Speckhard said in a statement issued late Tuesday.

"On behalf of the U.S. Embassy and the entire American community in Iraq, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of our colleague," said Speckhard, who is standing in as ambassador after the departure Monday of Zalmay Khalilzad.

Minutes later the U.S. command issued a terse statement that the soldier was killed and a second wounded. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said all the dead and wounded were victims of the same rocket assault.

The last known U.S. death in the Green Zone was in February when an American contractor was killed in a checkpoint shooting in the Green Zone.

A Katyusha rocket slammed into the Green Zone Thursday during a press conference by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who made an unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital to study security in advance of possibly expanding the United Nations presence.

The rocket landed about 50 yards from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's home, where the two leaders were speaking to reporters.

The U.N. presence in Iraq has been much smaller than planned since militants bombed the organization's Baghdad headquarters on Aug. 19, 2003, and killed 22 people, including the top U.N. envoy, Sergio Vieira de Mello.

On Oct. 14, 2004, twin bombings struck a cafe and an open market inside the Green Zone, killing six people, including four Americans, and wounding nearly 30.

On Nov. 25, 2004, a mortar attack killed four employees of a British security firm and wounded at least 12 in the Green Zone. Britain's Foreign Office said the four security workers for London-based Global Risk Strategies were former Gurkhas, renowned Nepalese soldiers.

On Jan. 29, 2005, insurgents hit the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad with a rocket, killing two Americans -- a civilian and a Navy sailor -- on the eve of landmark elections. The rocket hit the embassy compound after nightfall, near the building itself. Four other Americans were wounded.

On Oct. 14, 2004, twin bombings struck a cafe and an open market inside the Green Zone, killing six people and injuring nearly 30.

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