The News
Friday 26 of April 2024

Iraqi official: Rocket hits oil site, wounds 3 Iraqi workers


AP Photo,A fishing boat speeds past an oil tanker in the distance in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, June 15, 2019. The Kokuka Courageous, one of two oil tankers targeted in an apparent attack in the Gulf of Oman, was brought to the United Arab Emirates' eastern coast Saturday. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
AP Photo,A fishing boat speeds past an oil tanker in the distance in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, June 15, 2019. The Kokuka Courageous, one of two oil tankers targeted in an apparent attack in the Gulf of Oman, was brought to the United Arab Emirates' eastern coast Saturday. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say a rocket hit an oil-drilling site in southern Basra province, striking a camp housing energy giant Exxon Mobil and wounding three local workers, one seriously.

Security official Mahdi Raykan says a Katyusha rocket landed early Wednesday in the Zubair and Rumeila oil fields camp, operated by the Iraqi Drilling company, where Exxon Mobil has tents.

Exxon Mobil, based in Irving, Texas, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. In May, it evacuated staff from the West Qurna 1 oil field in Basra province.

As tensions escalate between Iran and the U.S., there’re concerns Iraq could once again get caught in the middle. The country hosts more than 5,000 U.S. troops, and is home to powerful Iranian-backed militias, some of whom want those U.S. forces to leave.