An al-Qaeda-linked organisation is claiming responsibility for a failed rocket attack on two US warships in the Jordanian port of Aqaba today.
The rockets missed their targets, hitting instead a warehouse and a hospital, killing a Jordanian soldier. A Jordanian military source said three missiles of a Soviet design had been fired.
The source said authorities were searching for three men after the missile attack, which was launched from an industrial warehouse area near the entrance to the city.
"We are searching for a Syrian and two Iraqis who are in Aqaba and used Kuwaiti number plates," the source said. Another source said the warehouse had been leased a few days ago by three Iraqis and an Egyptian.
The Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades of the al Qaeda Organisation in the Levant and Egypt, said in a statement it had carried out the attack.
Immediately after the attack, the two US amphibious assault ships, which had been on a joint training exercise with the Jordanian navy, weighed anchor and headed for the safety of open water.
The US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said one missile narrowly missed the USS Ashland, an amphibious warfare ship that is designed to transport troops and to launch assault landing craft and helicopters.
Commander Breslau said the Ashland and sister amphibious ship the USS Kearsarge, both of which are based in Norfolk, Virginia, had immediately left the port following the attack.