Rocket hits Iraq site housing foreign oil firms, wounding three

HAIDAR MOHAMMED ALI (AFP/File)

FILE- An employee stands at the Zubair oil and gas field, north of the southern Iraqi province of Basra on May 9, 2018

The incident is the latest in a spate of attacks on oil infrastructure in the region

A rocket landed within a site housing residential and operational headquarters for several major oil companies outside of Iraq’s southern city of Basra on Wednesday, wounding three people, the Iraqi military said.

Following the attack, US oil giant Exxon Mobil immediately evacuated around 20 foreign workers who had just been returning to the site after the US evacuation of staff from its Baghdad embassy last month.

Iraqi officials said oil production in the region was not affected by the attack, revealing that the rocket was a short-range Katyusha missile.

The incident is the latest in a spate of attacks on oil infrastructure in the region amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran.

It also follows two attacks in just as many days on bases housing US military personnel in Iraq, though no injuries or damage occurred in either attack.

No party has yet come forth to claim responsibility for the rocket.

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