Al-Qaeda Ally Claims Supertanker Attack

The "M Star" oil tanker at sea near Fujairah port in in the United Arab Emirates in July.

A militant group linked to Al-Qaeda has claimed that a suicide bomber from its organization was responsible for an attack on a Japanese supertanker on July 28 near the Strait of Hormuz.

The "Brigades of Abdullah Azzam" group said in a statement posted on an Islamist website used by militants that "Last Wednesday, after midnight, the martyrdom-seeking hero Ayyub al-Taishan...blew himself up in the Japanese tanker M.Star in the Strait of Hormuz between the United Arab Emirates and Oman."

No independent verification of the statement was immediately available.

compiled from Reuters reports