Militants blow up gas pipeline in North Sinai

Unidentified militants attacked and blew up part of a natural gas pipeline near Arish, the provincial capital of North Sinai, early Tuesday morning according to the privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm.

The newspaper reported that although there has been little information on the bombing from official bodies, a source from the security forces informed them that “gunmen blew up a gas pipeline by Arish” and that “flames rose after the bombing.”

The security source said that he was going to close the valves that led to a breach in the pipeline caused by the bombing. According to a report by the Associated Press, all roads leading to the area of the explosion have been blocked until further notice.

The privately owned Al-Shorouk reported that the bombing prevented the supply of gas to 13,000 families in the region. Speaking to the newspaper,  North Sinai Governor Abdel Fattah Harhour stated that he had asked the Ministry of Electricity to supply power to the affected families until the gas pipeline was up and running again.

Gasco, the main operator of natural gas pipelines in North Sinai, estimated that the damage to the pipeline would be repaired in five days to a week. The company stated that a technical committee had been formed to inspect the damage. 

The Arish pipeline is the main route for natural gas to be exported to Jordan and previously supplied Israel. It also brings natural gas to the Egyptian military’s cement factories in Sinai. It has been bombed 27 times since the January 25 revolution in 2011 and nine times since former President Mohamed Morsi’s ouster on July 3, 2013. The attacks have come regularly for the last year.

The attacks previously have been blamed on the North Sinai militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdes, which has claimed responsibility for one of the attacks as well as several other bombings targeting security forces in Sinai and Cairo.