The military has countered an attack on a natural gas plant in North Sinai Governorate. The plant is located 10km south of the city of Arish.
Masked men in two four-wheel cars approached the station and attempted to plant explosives, but found the armed forces and local guards lying in wait.
The gunfight is ongoing, eyewitnesses said.
After repairing damage to the pipelines caused by a series of bombings, Egypt resumed pumping eight days ago.
Last year, militants in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula targeted natural gas pipelines nearly a dozen times. The pipelines supply consumers in Israel and Jordan.
On 18 December, masked attackers blew up the pipeline for the tenth time since beginning of 2011. The previous attack on the pipeline occurred on 28 November.
In December, a group calling itself Ansar al-Jihad said it was responsible for the latest attack. In an Internet message, the group said it was loyal to the teachings of "the martyr Osama bin Laden."
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
