An explosion in the increasingly lawless Sinai targeting the Egyptian gas pipeline to Israel a Jordan injured one and set fire to several small buildings nearby:

Unknown assailants blew up an Egyptian pipeline in Sinai on Tuesday that supplies Israel and Jordan with gas, security sources and witnesses said.

A witness told investigators he saw three men jump out of a small truck at a pumping station in an area known as al-Maidan, southwest of the city of el-Arish, and open fire on the pipeline, the security sources said.

This was followed by a large explosion heard across the city and witnesses said 15-meter high flames could be seen shooting up from the pipeline.

A local hospital said one man was admitted with burns from the blast, which also set olive groves and shacks in the area on fire. Fire brigades were bringing the flames under control after the company operating the pipeline cut off the gas supply.

Egypt has lost control of the Sinai which is very bad news for Israel. They have had to transfer troops to help with security along the Egyptian border because the government in Cairo is in such chaos. It is also suspected that some in the military junta have turned a blind eye to security in the Sinai.

This is the sixth such incident with the pipeline since Mubarak was deposed.