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Rockets hit Red Sea ports; 1 dead
Friday, August 19, 2005; Posted: 8:37 a.m. EDT (12:37 GMT)
The USS Kearsage left the Aqaba port after the rocket attack.
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Rocket attack apparently targeted U.S. ships in Aqaba (4:39)
(CNN) -- One Jordanian soldier was killed and a second severely wounded Friday in a rocket attack apparently targeting U.S. ships in the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba, officials said.
Three Katyusha rockets were fired from a warehouse in Aqaba close to the port, a Jordanian government statement said. The warehouse had been rented a few days ago by four people of Iraqi and Egyptian descent.
The casualties occurred when one rocket flew over the bow of the USS Ashland and struck a warehouse used by the Jordanian military, officials said.
"At approximately 8:44 a.m. local time, a suspected mortar rocket flew over the USS Ashland's bow and impacted in a warehouse on the pier in the vicinity of the Ashland and USS Kearsarge," according to a statement from U.S. Central Command.
"The warehouse sustained an approximate 8-foot hole in the roof of the building." No U.S. military personnel were injured.
A second missile landed near a military hospital in Aqaba, and the third landed in the neighboring Israeli Red Sea port city of Eliat, the Jordanian government said.
The third rocket partially exploded, Israeli military sources said, damaging a road and a car. It fell on a road just east of the city's airport. No injuries were reported.
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said the two countries were cooperating in the investigation.
The ships were in port so sailors could train with regional partners, U.S. Navy Commander Jeff Breslau told CNN. "It's very unusual for U.S. ships to be under attack in this part of the region."
Security forces sealed off the area of the port near the warehouse. Breslau said the U.S. military ships subsequently left the port.
Marines from the 26th Expeditionary Unit were on board the ships "in support of the global war on terrorism (and) Operation Iraqi Freedom," Breslau said.
The massive 844-feet, 40,500-ton USS Kearsarge is staffed with nearly 2,000 Marines and more than 1,000 sailors, according to its Web site.
The smaller 609-feet, 16,000-ton USS Ashland carries more than 400 Marines and more than 400 sailors.
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Friday, August 19, 2005; Posted: 8:37 a.m. EDT (12:37 GMT)
The USS Kearsage left the Aqaba port after the rocket attack.
WATCH Browse/Search
Rocket attack apparently targeted U.S. ships in Aqaba (4:39)
(CNN) -- One Jordanian soldier was killed and a second severely wounded Friday in a rocket attack apparently targeting U.S. ships in the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba, officials said.
Three Katyusha rockets were fired from a warehouse in Aqaba close to the port, a Jordanian government statement said. The warehouse had been rented a few days ago by four people of Iraqi and Egyptian descent.
The casualties occurred when one rocket flew over the bow of the USS Ashland and struck a warehouse used by the Jordanian military, officials said.
"At approximately 8:44 a.m. local time, a suspected mortar rocket flew over the USS Ashland's bow and impacted in a warehouse on the pier in the vicinity of the Ashland and USS Kearsarge," according to a statement from U.S. Central Command.
"The warehouse sustained an approximate 8-foot hole in the roof of the building." No U.S. military personnel were injured.
A second missile landed near a military hospital in Aqaba, and the third landed in the neighboring Israeli Red Sea port city of Eliat, the Jordanian government said.
The third rocket partially exploded, Israeli military sources said, damaging a road and a car. It fell on a road just east of the city's airport. No injuries were reported.
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said the two countries were cooperating in the investigation.
The ships were in port so sailors could train with regional partners, U.S. Navy Commander Jeff Breslau told CNN. "It's very unusual for U.S. ships to be under attack in this part of the region."
Security forces sealed off the area of the port near the warehouse. Breslau said the U.S. military ships subsequently left the port.
Marines from the 26th Expeditionary Unit were on board the ships "in support of the global war on terrorism (and) Operation Iraqi Freedom," Breslau said.
The massive 844-feet, 40,500-ton USS Kearsarge is staffed with nearly 2,000 Marines and more than 1,000 sailors, according to its Web site.
The smaller 609-feet, 16,000-ton USS Ashland carries more than 400 Marines and more than 400 sailors.
LINK
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