An explosive device was used to blow up a natural gas pipeline on the outskirts of el-Arish, the provincial capital and principle port of North Sinai Province in Egypt early in the morning of Sunday 31 May 2015. Nobody was hurt in the incident, and firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze quickly after the gas supply was cut off. The pipeline supplies homes and a power station in el-Arish.
The approximate location of the 31 May 2015 el-Arish pipeline explosion. Google Maps.
No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing, however it is thought likely to have been the work of Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, a militant group based in the Sinai Peninsula which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis has previously carried out bombings against Egyptian security services, as well as oil and gas facilities, a favored target for Islamic State-affiliated groups.
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