BAGHDAD, March 28 (Reuters) - Insurgents have stepped up rocket and mortar attacks on Baghdad's international Green Zone where most Iraqi government offices and the U.S. embassy are located, a senior U.S. military spokesman said on Wednesday. Rear Admiral Mark Fox said nine people were wounded and two killed in three mortar or rocket strikes in three days from March 25. On Tuesday a U.S. contractor and a U.S. soldier were killed, and one U.S. state department employee was wounded. Insurgents have for years been firing mortar bombs and rockets into the Green Zone, a large area stretching for several miles along the River Tigris surrounded by fortified walls and checkpoints. Usually the attacks do not cause casualties as there are many uninhabited areas within the Green Zone. Fox said that while the total number of indirect fire attacks in March was on a trend to be lower than in recent months, there appeared to be a change in targets. "It's clear that there has been increasing targeting (of) attacks against the international zone," Fox told a news conference in Baghdad. Asked if any particular group was responsible, Fox said they came from various sources. "We're obviously taking some very careful steps and also scrutinising the points of origin and the nature of any of the patterns," he said. In the other attacks, two U.S. contractors and two other foreigners were wounded on March 25, and one U.S. soldier, one Iraqi and two other foreigners were wounded on March 26, Fox said. He did not give the nationality of the other foreigners.
