Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Al Qaida has intensified attacks on Egypt’s natural gas pipeline in the Sinai Peninsula.

So far, Al Qaida-aligned militias have blown up the Arab Gas Pipeline four times in 2014.

The latest operation was on Feb. 25 when a portion of the pipeline, which supplies neighboring Jordan, was bombed south of El Arish.

Security sources said the militias, particularly Ansar Beit Maqdis, was targeting the pipeline amid the success of the Egyptian military campaign in Sinai.

The sources said hundreds of fighters were fleeing Sinai as the Army and Air
Force were coordinating strikes on insurgency strongholds in towns near the
Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The repeated bombings have significantly reduced gas supplies to Jordan.
In February, Jordan signed a 15-year deal for the supply of Israeli gas from
new discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean.

  Al Qaida attacks Sinai gas pipeline for fourth time this year, Ansar Beit Maqdis, Arab Gas Pipeline, El Arish