Iraq's two oil terminals in Basra were attacked by suicide boat bombing on Saturday, official sources said.

But Qatar-based al-Jazeera news channel reported that a major oil export terminal in Iraq's southern port city of Basra was attacked by two suicide boats on Saturday.

One of the boats exploded alongside a vessel tied up at the terminal, and a second went off near the exclusion zone around oil facilities, said the channel.

No reports of damage or casualties were given.

Iraqi authority has shut down the terminal after loading was interrupted by the explosions, the official sources said. Iraq's oil and electricity facilities were frequently targeted by insurgents, but it appeared as the first attack at the offshore terminal.

Most of Iraq's crude oil has been exported through the port in Basra since the end of US-British invasion last summer.

Two coalition crew killed in attacks on Basra oil terminals

Two crew members of US-led coalition forces were killed and four others wounded as oil terminals in Iraq's southern port city of Basra were attacked on Saturday, the US Navy said.

"At approximately 5:00 pm (1400 GMT), coalition naval personnel observed an unidentified dhow approaching the Khor Al-Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT) in the northern Arabian Gulf. Standard Maritime Interception Operations (MIO) procedures required the crew to board the dhow for inspection," it said in a statement.

"As the eight-member boarding team approached the dhow in a rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB), the dhow exploded, flipping the RHIB and throwing the crew into the water, killing two and wounding four," the statement said.

Iraq's oil terminals in Basra were attacked by suicide boat bombing on Saturday, official sources earlier said.

According to the sources, two of the attacking boats exploded alongside a ship tied up at the terminal and a third boat was intercepted by a coalition ship as it approached an exclusion zone around the terminal and there was an explosion soon after it was boarded.

Iraqi authority has shut down the terminals after loading was interrupted by the explosions, the sources added.

Iraq's oil and electricity facilities were frequently targeted by insurgents, but it appeared as the first attack at the offshore terminal.

Most of Iraq's crude oil has been exported through the port in Basra since the end of US-British invasion last summer.

(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2004)