Jordan hunts for suspects in US attack
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-20 09:35

Attackers firing Katyusha rockets narrowly missed a U.S. amphibious assault ship docked at this Red Sea resort Friday, but killed a Jordanian soldier in the most serious strike at the Navy since the USS Cole bombing nearly five years ago, reported AP.

Two more rockets were shot toward nearby Israel without causing serious damage.

Jordanian security forces hunted for at least six Egyptian, Syrian and Iraqi suspects, and an al-Qaida-linked group that previously claimed responsibility for terror bombings in three Egyptian resorts said it staged the attack here.

The string of attacks over 10 months has raised fears Islamic extremists are opening a new arena of combat in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and the Gulf of Aqaba, an area bordered by Israel, Egypt and Jordan that is known for carefree tourist resorts and Arab-Israeli peace talks.

In addition to striking U.S. targets, some extremist Muslims would like to topple the governments of Jordan and Egypt, which are longtime allies of Washington and also have peace treaties with Israel.

Jordanian policemen stand guard near a warehouse in Jordan's port town of Aqaba, from where attackers fired three Katyusha rockets early Friday, Aug. 19, 2005, killing a Jordanian soldier. [AP]

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a militant group that claimed to be behind bombings which killed at least 64 people at Sharm el-Sheik in July and 34 people at two other Egyptian resorts last October, posted a statement on the Internet saying its fighters fired the rockets Friday.

"A group of our holy warriors ... targeted a gathering of American military ships docking in Aqaba port," said the statement, which also threatened to bring down King Abdullah II of Jordan.

One rocket sailed over the bow of the USS Ashland about 8:44 a.m., Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, a spokesman for the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain, told The Associated Press.

The missile hit a nearby Jordanian military warehouse that U.S. forces use to store goods bound for Iraq, Jordanian officials said. The blast killed one Jordanian soldier and wounded another, the state Petra news agency reported. No Americans were injured.

Brown said the Ashland had docked on Aug. 13 with the helicopter carrier USS Kearsarge at Aqaba's port, south of the city, for joint exercises with Jordan's military. Both vessels left after the attack as a precaution, he said.

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