An al-Qaida-linked group on Friday claimed responsibilities for rocket attacks in Jordan's Aqaba port and the neighboring Israeli port city of Eilat.

The group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades of the al-Qaida Organization in the Levant and Egypt, said in a statement posted on the internet that its militants fired three Katyusha rockets at US military ships docked in Aqaba and Eilat ports.

   The authenticity of the statement could not be immediately verified.

   A missile launched from Aqaba seemed to be the cause of an explosion in Eilat Friday morning. Israeli police said a taxi driver, who passed on the road just as the rocket fell, was slightly injured.

   Earlier in the day, two blasts hit Aqaba. Jordanian Interior Minister Awni Yerfas confirmed that an explosion was heard at the port and an investigation was underway.

   The Abdullah Azzam Brigades was one of several groups that claimed the bomb attacks on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, including the October 2004 bombings of a hotel in the resort of Taba and the July 2005 Sharm el-Sheikh bombings that killed at least 64 people.

Source: Xinhua