CAIRO, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- A group of militants blew up a gas pipeline on Sunday night in Egypt's North Sinai Province, a security source told Xinhua on Monday.
"At least six masked militants planted explosives under the pipeline in the town of Bir al-Abd, west of the provincial capital al-Arish," the source said on condition of anonymity.
The pipeline provides cement factories and homes in central Sinai with gas, he added.
Huge flames were seen rising high near the pipeline and the authorities stopped the gas distribution to extinguish the fire, according to the source.
The militants fled the scene after the attack, he said.
No casualties have been reported and no group has claimed responsibility yet for the explosion.
North Sinai has witnessed several explosions of the gas pipeline connecting Egypt with Jordan and Israel since the 2011 uprising that toppled former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, a extremist miliatn group that declared loyalty to the Islamic State in 2014, claimed responsiblity for the explosions.
It is worth noting that the explosions led to the collapse of a 2005 deal to export Egypt's natural gas to Israel in 2012.
Egypt has been fighting anti-security forces attacks in North Sinai which escalated after the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in response to mass protests against his one-year rule in 2013.
In February 2018, the Egyptian army and police launched a nationwide operation against militants mainly concentrated in North Sinai.
