Militants blow up Egypt gas pipeline in Sinai

Militants blew up a pipeline in Sinai late Tuesday that transports gas to Jordan, security officials said, in the fourth such attack this year in the restive peninsula.

Militants planted explosives under the pipeline south of the city of Al-Arish in an area called Lehfen, they said.

The explosion sent thick flames of fire shooting into the sky, security officials said, adding that fire engines and ambulances had been rushed to the site.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties.

On February 11, militants planted a bomb under a pipeline that transported gas to an industrial area of the restive Sinai.

Since the 2011 ouster of president Hosni Mubarak, militants have regularly targeted pipelines in Sinai, repeatedly forcing a halt in gas supplies to Israel and Jordan.

The army has poured troops into the mountainous and underdeveloped region to combat the growing militancy.