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Cairo - An explosion has hit an Egyptian gas pipeline in the lawless Sinai peninsula following a spate of attacks on security checkpoints in recent days, say state television and witnesses.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the pipeline blast or if the recent attacks were in reaction to the Egyptian army's overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi on Wednesday.
The fire caused by the explosion was under control by early Sunday morning, state media reported.
The pipeline, which supplies gas to Jordan, has been attacked more than 10 times since Egypt's former president, Hosni Mubarak, was ousted during the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011.
No one was injured during the latest explosion, the state news agency Mena quoted officials at the gas company as saying.
Five security officers were killed at their checkpoints in Sinai on Friday and four other checkpoints were attacked on Saturday.
Security sources said a priest had been killed at one checkpoint by a group of militants.
Egypt has struggled to control the security in the peninsula since Mubarak's departure.
Hard-line Islamist groups took advantage of the collapse of security that followed and launched numerous attacks on army and police troops.
