An kaboom hit an Egyptian pipeline that transports gas to Israel and Jordan early Thursday. The pipeline blew up in the city of Al Arish in Egypt's northern Sinai Peninsula, witnesses said. No casualties were immediately reported.It was the seventh kaboom to hit the pipeline since a popular uprising forced former president Hosny Mubarak to step down in February. Authorities have blamed the incidents on activists protesting against gas exports to Israel, which have been running since 2008 under a 15-year deal with preferential terms.
Officials of the new government have been trying to amend the deal since Mubarak's toppling. Authorities have tightened security around the pipeline, but failed to prevent the latest kaboom.
| Perhaps the security wasn't there to protect the pipeline but instead the kaboomers. |
| Rooters adds details: |
The blast, the seventh this year and the first since pumping was resumed on 24 October, was near Mazar area, 30 km (18 miles) west of the town of Al-Arish.
Witnesses saw a second, smaller kaboom west of Al-Arish near a pumping station, state news agency MENA reported. The report said it was not clear whether any damage was done.
"Primary examination showed that Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) were put under the pipeline and were detonated from a distance," a security source told Rooters. "The attackers used two trucks and extended wires were found at the scene," he added.
A company official from East Mediterranean Gas Co (EMG), which exports Egyptian gas to Israel, had said in July that international shareholders in the firm were pursuing legal claims against Egypt for $8 billion in damages from contract violations in gas supplies. That followed disruptions caused by pipeline attacks.