Three rockets fired in Iraq's southern oil port city of Basra landed inside Iraq and were not aimed at Kuwait or the disputed Mubarak port, an Iraqi official said on Friday. Ali al-Maliki, head of the Basra provincial council's security committee, said the rockets were aimed at the former US prison camp Bucca and had a range of only one kilometre.
"The rockets targeted the (former) Bucca prison building, which is used by foreign companies," Maliki told Reuters. "Security forces managed to seize the vehicle which was used to launch the rockets." Basra police spokesman Colonel Kareem al-Zaidi also denied any rockets had been fired at Kuwait's Mubarak port. Iraq has voiced anger over the $1.1 billion port being built by Kuwait on Bubiyan Island, saying it interferes with shipping lanes to its own ports.
Shia militia in southern Iraq warned earlier this year they would attack Kuwait if it insisted on building the port. Maliki said it was unclear who was behind the firing of the rockets and said an investigation had been launched. Al Arabiya TV reported early on Friday that three rockets had hit the border area between Kuwait and Iraq, quoting diplomatic sources.
The pro-Gaddafi TV channel Al Orouba reported the rockets had targeted Kuwait's Mubarak port, which is under construction and has been the subject of arguments between oil-producing Iraq and Kuwait, which share a small border. Dubai-based Al Arabiya said the Katyusha rockets did not target the port. A Kuwaiti security source told Reuters he heard attackers from Iraq had launched three rockets at 00:30 am on Friday which landed on Iraqi territory without reaching Kuwait.
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