(Reuters) - An explosion hit the Egyptian pipeline carrying gas to
Israel and Jordan on Monday for 14th time since the uprising against
President Hosni Mubarak began last year, security sources said.
The blast took place in the northern Sinai at the entrance of the
Mediterranean coastal town of Al-Arish. Residents in the city told
Reuters they had heard the sound of the explosion.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks on the
installation that crosses the increasingly volatile Sinai Peninsula.
Security in Sinai was relaxed after the fall of Mubarak in 2011 as
the police presence thinned out across Egypt.
The pipeline has been shut since an explosion on February 5.
Egypt´s 20-year gas deal with Israel, signed in the Mubarak era, is
unpopular with some Egyptians, with critics accusing Israel of not
paying enough for the fuel.
Previous explosions sometimes have forced weeks-long shutdowns along
the pipeline run by Gasco, a subsidiary of the national gas company
EGAS.
Egypt said in November it would tighten security along the pipeline
by installing alarms and recruiting security patrols from Bedouin
tribesmen in the area.
