AMMAN AND JERUSALEM AND EL-ARISH: A Grad-type rocket smashed into a street in the Jordanian port of Aqaba on Monday, injuring four people, one seriously, the interior minister said, while rockets have been fired toward the southern Israeli city of Eilat, says Israeli police.
Two cars were wrecked in the blast in Al-Aqaba, which occurred near the Intercontinental hotel, Interior Minister Nayef Qadai told AFP.
"A Grad rocket fell in the street in Aqaba, near to the Intercontinental hotel, destroying two cars and injuring four people, one of them seriously," Qadai said, adding that he had no further immediate information.
Information Minister Ali Ayed said in a radio interview the blast occurred at around 7:45 am (0445 GMT).
Israeli Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld confirms that the blasts were caused by rockets, but says no one was injured in Eilat. He says police are searching for the source of the fire. Israeli media reported that five rockets were fired at the city; three of which landed in the Red Sea and two in open spaces.
Jordan’s Information Minister Ali Ayed says one rocket hit on a main street in Aqaba, injuring four people. He could not confirm their nationalities. But according to witnesses, two of the wounded were taxi drivers and one of their cars was destroyed.
It was the second such attack this year. In April, rockets were fired toward Eilat and Aqaba, causing no injuries but hitting a Jordanian warehouse.
An Egyptian security official said on Monday that five rockets that slammed into the Red Sea ports of Eilat and Aqaba did not come from Egypt.
"The rockets did not come from Sinai. To launch rockets from Sinai would need a great deal of logistics and equipment and that is impossible considering the heavy security presence in the Sinai Peninsula," the official said.
"We have a heavy security presence in Sinai, particularly along the Egyptian Israeli border," he said, stressing that "no suspicious activity has been reported anywhere in Sinai."
