For the third time this month, gunmen attacked the strategic pipeline carrying natural gas from Egypt across the Sinai Peninsula to Israel and Jordan, Egyptian security officials said on July 30.
The officials said the gunmen used rocket-propelled grenades but caused little damage to the pipeline, which had been shut down after a previous attack.
Since the Egyptian uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, there have been at least five attacks on the pipeline, which is widely seen both as a symbol of the nation's unpopular relationship with Israel and corruption among Mubarak-era officials, who are accused of supplying the gas at preferential rates in sweetheart deals.
Israel gets 40 per cent of its natural gas from Egypt and uses it to produce electricity. Jordan also relies on the pipeline for up to 80 per cent of its electricity needs.
There were no injuries after the attack, which occurred at dawn on the heavily guarded pipeline terminal at Al Shuluq in northern Sinai. The authorities did not provide a motive for the latest attack, the first on that terminal, but have blamed previous attacks on Sinai Bedouin groups, who have clashed repeatedly with the security forces and long complained about discrimination.
The attack came a day after five people, including three civilians, were killed during clashes between the security forces and masked gunmen outside of a police station in the nearby town of Al Arish. The gunmen, who security officials said attacked the station with grenades, escaped after a nine-hour battle. ( Heba Afify reported from Cairo, and Kareem Fahim from Tunis .) — New York Times News Service
