BICOM

An explosion on the gas pipeline supplying gas from Egypt to Israel and Jordan was reported on Thursday morning in Northern Sinai. It is the seventh attack within a year on the pipeline and the first since the line was fixed on 24 October. The blast took place near Mazar, 60 kilometres west of Al-Arish. Egyptian sources say the saboteurs used improved explosion devices that were placed under the pipeline and detonated via a remote control.

Since the fall of Mubarak the security situation in the Sinai has deteriorated significantly. In August the Egyptian military launched Operation Eagle, a campaign to confront insurgents and criminal gangs operating in the Sinai, with the objective of restoring law and order in light of the lawlessness that had developed during the Egyptian revolution.

Nevertheless, despite extra Egyptian troop deployments, gas to Israel and Jordan has been interrupted several times in the recent past. Additionally, in mid August terrorist from the Gaza Strip entered Israel from the Sinai and attacked cars and buses on an Israeli highway, killing eight.

Another negative consequence of the deterioration of the security situation in the Sinai has been the increased smuggling of advanced weapons to armed groups in the Gaza Strip. During the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi, reports surfaced of Libyan army equipment, including shoulder launched anti-aircraft missiles, being smuggled into Gaza.