Russia supplies about two billion cubic metres of gas to Armenia each year

Russia has temporarily halted gas supplies to Armenia after an explosive device was found near a pipeline, Russian news reports say.

A security official said exports via North Ossetia and Ingushetia were stopped and would not resume until the device was defused, Interfax reported.

Supplies to Georgia were not affected, a spokeswoman for Georgia's Oil and Gas Corporation said.

The Ingushetia region has been the focus of attacks by Islamist rebels.

Militants have been battling pro-Kremlin authorities and Russian security forces in a low-level insurgency in Ingushetia and the Caucasus region for years.

Armenia receives about two billion cubic metres of gas a year from Russia via Georgia.

It is not known who was behind the planting of the device on the pipeline.