Mexican Rebels Claim Pipeline Attacks

Two army soldiers and a civilian look on as a fire rages near the town of Omealca, in the gulf state of Veracruz, Mexico, Monday, Sept. 10, 2007. Six explosions believed to be the result of sabotage ripped natural gas pipelines for Mexico's state oil monopoly early Monday, sparking fires and prompting authorities to evacuate thousands of people and shut down two highways. (AP Photo/Fotojarocha.com via Maya Comunicaciones-Luis Monroy) (Luis Monroy-str - AP)

VERACRUZ, Mexico -- A shadowy leftist guerrilla group took credit for a string of explosions that ripped apart at least six Mexican oil and gas pipelines Monday, rattling financial markets and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in lost production.

The six explosions could be seen miles away, and set off fires that sent flames and black smoke shooting high above the Gulf coast state of Veracruz.

At least a dozen pipelines, most carrying natural gas, were affected, said Jesus Reyes Heroles, the head of Mexico's oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, without providing specifics. The explosions occurred in valve stations where different pipelines intersect.

He said there would be hundreds of millions of dollars in lost production and about nine states and the capital, Mexico City, would be affected.

"It is a big blow," he said. "You can't store natural gas or transport it by truck."

The blasts caused brief jitters in international markets, with natural gas futures up as much as 20.2 cents on news of the explosions, although prices dropped in later trading. One oil pipeline was hit in Monday's attack but Pemex said the damage wouldn't affect crude exports.

Some local factories were forced to shut after natural gas supplies were cut. Residential supplies were not expected to be affected.

There were no immediate reports of injuries directly caused by the explosions and fires, although Fernando Leon Yepez, a civil defense official in Omealca, reported that two elderly women died of heart attacks shortly after the explosions.

It was the second time in three months that the so-called People's Revolutionary Army claimed responsibility for a pipeline attack as part of what it has labeled its "prolonged people's war" against "the anti-people government."

The group, known as the EPR, is a secretive, tiny rebel group that staged several armed attacks on government and police installations in southern Mexico in the 1990s. It was later weakened by internal divisions, leaving it unclear which splinter group may have carried out Monday's attacks.

At least one undetonated explosive device was later found beside a pipeline in a swampy area about 500 yards away from a highway toll booth just north of the port of Veracruz, said the Veracruz state civil defense coordinator, Ismael Reyes.

That explosive device was accompanied by a note signed by the EPR, according to a Veracruz state police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.