The Associated Press reports [1]:

Several explosions believed to the work of result of sabotage ripped apart pipelines for Mexico's state oil monopoly early Monday, the company said. There were no injuries.

The Mexican state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, issued a statement saying it believed the explosions, which forced the evacuation of 12,000 people, were deliberate.

A small, left-wing guerrilla group claimed to have attacked a major Pemex gas pipeline in July and at least a dozen major companies, including Honda Motor Co., Kellogg Co. and The Hershey Co., were forced to suspend or scale back operations.

The five pipelines hit were located in the seaside state of Vera Cruz, which borders the Gulf of Mexico.

Read how oil companies in Nigeria protect their oil pipelines and platforms in Security Management's June cover story, "Crude Oil and Corruption [2]."