Missiles Narrowly Miss Us Warship

At least three missiles fired by unknown attackers narrowly missed a US navy ship docked at Aqaba in Jordan today, but one killed a Jordanian soldier and another hit Eilat across the border in Israel.

The soldier, named as Private Ahmad Alnajdawi, was killed when one of the wayward missiles struck the warehouse he was guarding, according to a Jordanian security source.

"At least two rockets were fired from the industrial warehouse area at the entrance of the city at US vessels docked in the port and they missed," the source told state-run news agency Petra.

A taxi at Eilat airport, five miles from Aqaba, was struck by another missile that failed to explode.

Shaul Mofaz, the Israeli defence minister, said "one or two" Katyusha rockets fell in the airport and hotel area of Eilat but that no one had been hurt.

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an al-Qaida linked group, claimed responsibility in a statement posted on a website, but the claim could not be independently confirmed.

The US navy confirmed that the missiles had narrowly missed an amphibious vessel.

"I can confirm that a rocket flew over the bow of USS Ashland and the rocket impacted in the roof of a warehouse. No sailors or marines were injured," said Commander Jeff Breslau of the US fifth fleet in Bahrain.

"It's pretty safe to conclude that they were probably trying to hit one or both of the ships."

The USS Ashland and her sister ship, the USS Kearsarge, raised anchor after the attack and headed out to open water. Both vessels, which are designed to transport marines and launch assault landing craft and helicopters, had been on a joint training exercise with the Jordanian navy.

Petra reported that authorities believe the attack was launched from a warehouse in Aqaba which was rented this week by four people holding Egyptian and Iraqi passports.

In Eilat, the taxi driver described how the missile hit his car.

"I heard a noise, the car shook, and I kept driving for two more metres," said Meir Farhan, 40, who suffered slight injuries. "I didn't realise what it was, but when I went out of the car I saw a hole in the ground on the asphalt."

Aqaba and Eilat are located on either side the Jordan-Israeli border close to the Sinai Peninsula.