Unknown assailants blew up a gas pipeline supplying the industrial zone in north Sinai in the early hours of Tuesday, reported Ahram Arabic news website.

No injuries have been recorded but the powerful blast and rising fire flames left residents in the nearby city of Arish scared, Ahram reporter in Arish said.

Anti-government militants have blown up gas pipelines in the restive peninsula numerous times since the ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.