At dawn on Thursday, unknown gunmen hit an Egyptian gas pipeline which provides Israel and Jordan with gas, for the seventh time this year, Egyptian security sources reported. The pipeline was hit with two explosions.The pipeline provides both Israel and Jordan with gas; the first explosion took place around 1 hour after midnight, with the second explosion took place near a pumping station in the same sector, Egyptian News Agency, Mena, reported.
The blasts took place forty kilometres (25 miles) west of Al Arish Egyptian town, in the north of the Sinai Peninsula.
This is the seventh attack against the same pipeline since the former Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, was ousted by the Egyptian revolution.
Mena reported that two cars, loaded with gunmen, were seen heading towards the pipeline before the first blast took place.
Head of the Egyptian security forces in the Sinai, Lieutenant Saleh Al Masry, stated that an unknown number of gunmen placed explosives near the pipeline in the Mazar area of the Sinai, and apparently detonated them remotely.
Lt. Al Masry added that this is the first attack against the underground section of the pipeline, as the assailants had to dig in order to reach the pipeline before planting the explosives.
The Egyptian corporation that delivers the gas to Israel and Jordan, and to an industrial area in the middle of the Sinai, has to shut down until the line is fixed and ready to run.
The most recent attack against the pipeline was on September 27 of this year. Egyptian explosive specialists have also defused several bombs implanted on sections of the pipeline of the last few months, preventing several attacks before they occurred.
Israel resumed the imports of Egyptian gas last month after it was cut off for several months due to previous attacks against the pipeline.
It is worth mentioning that Egypt provides Israel with 43% of its gas supplies, while 40% of Israel’s electricity is produced using natural gas.
