Cairo, Dec 23 (IANS): Militants Tuesday blew up a section of a gas pipeline near the Egyptian city of el-Arish, the provincial capital of North Sinai, Press TV reported quoted security officials.

The officials said the explosion happened in the early hours of Tuesday.

Security forces closed all roads leading to the site of the attack. The incident forced the national gas company to halt gas flow in the pipeline, used for the transfer of natural gas to Israel and Jordan.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. But Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, a militant group that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group last month, often carries out bombings and attacks in the restive Sinai Peninsula.

In recent months, militants have repeatedly targeted pipelines in the region.

Militant groups have launched almost daily attacks in the volatile region since the ouster of Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, in July last year.

In response, Cairo has launched several offensives against the militants, sending thousands of troops backed by tanks and heavy equipment into the region to crush militancy.