Militants blow up Egypt gas pipeline

Militants have blown up a pipeline in Sinai that transports gas to Jordan, in the fourth such attack this year in the restive peninsula.

Militants planted explosives under the pipeline south of the city of Al-Arish in an area called Lehfen, security officials said.

The explosion sent thick flames of fire into the sky.

There are no immediate reports of any casualties.

On February 11, militants planted a bomb under a pipeline that transported gas to an industrial area of the Sinai.

Since the 2011 ousting of president Hosni Mubarak, militants have regularly targeted pipelines in Sinai, repeatedly forcing a halt in gas supplies to Israel and Jordan.

The army has poured troops into the mountainous and underdeveloped region to combat the growing militancy.