Attackers Fire Missiles at U.S. Navy Ship
Submitted by Templar Titan on Fri, 08/19/2005 - 17:55.
Aug 19, 9:11 AM (ET) By JAMAL HALABY AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Attackers fired at least three rockets from Jordan early Friday, with one narrowly missing a docked U.S. Navy ship and killing a Jordanian soldier. It was the most serious militant attack on the Navy since the USS Cole was bombed in 2000. Another rocket fell close to a nearby airport in neighboring Israel, officials said. Jordanian and Israeli authorities said militants fired three Katyusha rockets from a warehouse in the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba. A group linked to al-Qaida claimed responsibility in an Internet statement. The statement purportedly from the Abdullah Azzam Brigades could not immediately be verified. The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, said two American amphibious ships attached to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit were docked in Aqaba, about 210 miles south of the capital, Amman, when the rockets were fired toward them. |
'The vessels later sailed out of port as a result of the attacks, U.S. Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown told The Associated Press in Bahrain. The Abdullah Azzam group was among several that claimed responsibility for previous attacks on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, including the Oct. 7 car bombing of a hotel in the resort of Taba, which borders Israel, and the July 23 Sharm el-Sheik bombings that killed at least 64 people. "A group of our holy warriors ... targeted a gathering of American military ships docking in Aqaba port and also in Eilat port with three Katyusha rockets and the warriors returned safe to their headquarters," the statement said. The rockets were the most serious attempted attack on a U.S. military ship since the Cole bombing in October 2000, when suicide attackers detonated explosives on a small boat they brought alongside the destroyer as it refueled in Aden, Yemen. Seventeen U.S. sailors were killed. Original Article: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050819/D8C2TL600.html Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All right reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed |
