Baghdad, Iraq ? U.S. forces on Tuesday airlifted to Germany the sole survivor of an attack on an American humanitarian mission that killed her four fellow Christian missionaries Monday evening. The team was in northern Iraq to plan a water-purification project and “share God’s love with the Iraqi people.”

Also on Tuesday, gunmen killed two European contractors in southern Iraq and an Iraqi translator in the north, continuing what U.S. military commanders see as a shift toward “soft targets,” meaning civilians, in the insurgency’s campaign to disrupt coalition efforts to rebuild Iraq as a Western-style democracy.

“Clearly there has been a shift in the insurgency and the way the extremists are conducting operations,” said American Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, whose troops have taken a heavy toll from suicide bombings, roadside bombs and shooting attacks in the year-old American-led occupation of Iraq. “It is very clear they are going after these targets that might create some splits within the coalition.”

Gunmen opened fire on the missionaries’ car, killing Larry Elliott, 60, and his wife, Jean, 58, of Cary, N.C.; Karen Watson, 38, of Bakersfield, Calif.; and David McDonnall, 28, of Rowlett, Texas. McDonnall died early Tuesday while being evacuated by air to Baghdad for “more specialized care” after treatment at an Iraqi hospital followed by surgery at the U.S. Army Support Hospital in Mosul, an American Army spokesman said.

Tuesday, gunmen raked a car carrying two European contractors near Hilla, south of Baghdad, killing a German and a Dutchman along with their Iraqi driver and a police officer. They were reportedly in the country working on a water supply project near the Shiite Muslim city of Karbala.