Two Americans killed in Embassy rocket attack

A rocket hit the US Embassy in Baghdad today, killing two Americans who worked there and wounding four others on the eve of Iraq’s landmark elections, a US official said.

The rocket fell into the Embassy’s compound, near the building itself in the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, according to the Embassy official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

One civilian and one sailor, both assigned to the Embassy, were killed in the rocket attack, a military official said, also on condition of anonymity.

Of the four injured Americans, two were military, one was a civilian and the fourth was as yet underdetermined, the military official said.

Embassy spokesman Bob Callahan confirmed the embassy had been hit in an attack, but could give no details about casualties.

The second Embassy official, speaking anonymously, then confirmed that two had been killed and four injured.

Earlier, sirens wailed briefly at one point from the Green Zone, but it was not clear if they were linked to the attack.