Masked gunmen blew up a terminal of the Egyptian natural gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan in a predawn attack Tuesday (local time), The Associated Press reported.
The report quoted security officials who said the attack was carried out by at least four assailants. The terminal is located in the city of El-Arish in the northern part of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
According to the officials, who spoke with AP on condition of anonymity, the attackers ordered the guards on duty to leave and then blew up the terminal, starting a huge fire that sent flames shooting into the air.
There were no casualties in the blast, the officials said.
This was the fourth attack since February and the second in as many weeks on Egypt’s gas pipeline. Last week’s attack took place at a pumping station at Nagah in the Bir al-Abd region of the northern Sinai Peninsula.
Security officials said the previous explosion was caused by saboteurs, noting that a suspicious car had parked near the pipeline shortly before the explosion. The explosion had sent flames into the sky and cut gas supplies to Israel and Jordan.
The first attack on Egypt’s gas pipeline in February was later confirmed to have been a terror attack. A second attack occurred on April 27, also by unknown saboteurs.
There was also a failed attack which occurred in March. Six terrorists, reportedly Bedouin, tried to blow up the pipeline but the timer failed to detonate the explosives, preventing a huge economic and political crisis.