Rocket attack kills four in Baghdad's Green Zone

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Four U.S. government contractors, all from Asia, were killed in a rocket strike on the heavily fortified Green Zone compound in Baghdad on Wednesday, the U.S. embassy said on Thursday.

It was one of the deadliest rocket attacks on the Green Zone since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

"It is with a profound sense of sadness and regret that we announce the loss of four U.S. government contractors as the result of a rocket attack on the International Zone in Baghdad, Iraq on May 2nd, 2007," the embassy said in a statement.

The embassy had initially identified those killed as all being from the Philippines. It said in a later statement revising their nationalities that one was from the Philippines, two were from India and the fourth was from Nepal.

Sunni Arab insurgent group the Islamic Army in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack. It said on its Web site the attack was an attempt to hit the U.S. embassy with two rockets.

"Thanks God, the hit was precise and led to great casualties among occupation troops who were at this location," it said.

Mortar and rocket attacks by insurgents on the Green Zone are common and appear to have been stepped up in recent days. Baghdad's most secure zone, it houses many Iraqi government ministries, parliament and the U.S. embassy.

"We see varying sporadic patterns of the indirect fire against the international zone," U.S. military spokesman Rear Admiral Mark Fox told a news conference on Wednesday.

"Sometimes we will go for weeks without anything and then there will be other periods where there is relatively frequent or intense activity."