Gas pipeline in Sinai explodes

An explosion at a natural gas pipeline in Egypt’s restive northern Sinai Peninsula caused a fire but no human casualties, a senior official said on Friday, according to The Associated Press.

North Sinai Governor Mohamed Abdel Fadil Shousha said the explosion took place late Thursday in El-Arish, the provincial capital. He added the explosion will not affect the pipeline’s supply to El-Arish’s residential areas or an industrial zone in central Sinai.

An investigation was underway to determine the cause of the blast, Shousha said.

However, other security officials and eyewitness quoted by AP said terrorists planted explosives on the pipeline before fleeing the scene.

Last month, the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization claimed that its terrorists blew up one of the gas pipelines between Israel and Egypt in the El-Arish area.

A senior official in the Israeli energy sector rejected the ISIS statement, saying that no damage had been done to the gas pipeline between Israel and Egypt.

The gas pipeline in the Sinai Peninsula has been attacked dozens of times since the 2011 ouster of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt has been fighting an insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula for several years, which at times has spilled over into other parts of the country. Most of the attacks during this time period have been claimed by the Sinai Province, the ISIS affiliate in Egypt.

The country has been under a state of emergency since April of 2018, after two suicide bombings at churches claimed by ISIS killed at least 45 people in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)