Northern Ireland: Dissident republicans blamed as police targeted by explosive

Dissident republicans have been blamed for an explosive device that was fired towards police officers in Northern Ireland.

The incident in the early hours of Saturday began with a report of a loud bang in the Tullygally Road area of Craigavon, County Armagh.

Police were contacted a short time later by a Belfast-based newspaper, which had received a call claiming that a device had been used to target a patrol responding to the initial noise.

Officers and army bomb disposal experts were deployed to the scene, where a suspicious object was found and later identified as a viable explosive.

Investigators believe it formed part of a failed bid to kill members of the force, which also caused 20 people – including a pensioner aged 80 – to be evacuated from their nearby homes.

Chief Superintendent Peter Farrar said the suspected murder attempt was a “cowardly and evil attack of terrorism”, with dissident republicans believed to be behind it.

Parts of Craigavon have been rife with such activity in the past, with renegades opposed to the peace process having killed soldiers, prison workers and police officers.

Mr Farrar said those responsible “offer nothing but heartache” to the community, and that their actions “do not reflect the vast majority of the good people living in this area”.

He continued: “Attacks on police and other security services are attacks on the entire community and they are an attack on our democracy.

“Clearly this was a lethal device designed to murder police officers or indeed any member of the public, whether they be an older person or a child who would have been in the vicinity of this.

“Anyone willing to launch such an attack in a residential area cares little about our communities. Their reckless violence cannot be allowed to continue.”

(c) Sky News 2019: Northern Ireland: Dissident republicans blamed as police targeted by explosive