Iraq News Today | Oil Tanker On Fire After Attack In Iraqi Waters, Navy Rescues Crew
An attack on Iraq's Basra port early Thursday killed at least one person and forced authorities to halt operations at all the country's oil terminals, officials said.
Videos circulating online showed a large vessel engulfed in flames, with massive plumes of fire and thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
Farhan al-Fartousi, the director-general of the General Company for Ports of Iraq, made the announcement in a statement carried by the state-run Iraqi News Agency on Thursday.
Al-Fartousi said the attack targeted a ship engaged in a ship-to-ship transfer of oil in the Basra port on the Persian Gulf.
He said it remained unclear if the ship was targeted by a flying or seaborne drone or a missile.
Rescuers recovered one dead body and helped 38 others after the attack.
He said commercial ports in Iraq remained open, though the oil terminals had been shut.
