Egyptian security officials have arrested two more members of an extremist group thought to be behind attacks on a pipeline supplying gas to the Occupied Territories and Jordan.

Egyptian security officials have arrested two more members of an extremist group thought to be behind attacks on a pipeline supplying gas to the Occupied Territories and Jordan, the official MENA agency reported Monday.

Abdel Karim Mohammed Ahmed and Ahmed Salem Awad of the radical al-Takfeer wal Hijra were detained during a sweep in the north Sinai town of el-Arish, a day after one of the group's leading members was held, said MENA.

Mohammed al-Teehi was the mastermind of attacks on the gas pipeline and on police stations and installations in North Sinai, a security official charged on Sunday.

On Thursday, two explosions hit the pipeline which carries gas through the Sinai and on to Jordan and Occupied Territories. It had already been attacked six times since former president Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February.

Egyptian authorities have on several occasions announced measures to step up protection of the pipeline and try to arrest those behind the attacks.

Army experts have also located and defused a number of other devices targeting the pipeline.

The Zionist entity generates 40 percent of its electricity using natural gas, and Egypt provides 43 percent of its supplies of the material.