Real IRA issues warning

The ‘Real IRA’ in Derry says it had to abandon an attack in the city recently because of what it described as “civilian interference.”

It is not known when or where the incident took place but it is understood it was to have been a gun attack on a member of the PSNI.

In a call to a local newspaper, a spokesperson for the organisation said the “sniping operation was abandoned due to civilian interference.”

The caller also repeated a previous warning to civilians to “stay clear of all Crown forces.”

The Real IRA spokesperson told businesses not to supply the PSNI or the British Army.

“We repeat the warning given in the past in relation to businesses supplying Crown Forces. We will be monitoring the situation and action will be taken if it does not stop,” the caller said.

There was also a clear warning against anyone found to be passing information to the PSNI. The caller said: “Anyone passing information to Crown Forces will pay the penalty.”

ALERTS

The warning comes just a week after the Real IRA detonated a large car bomb outside an Ulster Bank in the city, and as alerts continued across the North.

Last Wednesday night, the British Army carried out a number of controlled explosions on a passenger car in the Ligoniel area of north Belfast but it said “nothing untoward” was found.

Around 80 homes were evacuated after the car, a Ford Mondeo, was found with its lights on. Two ambulances were used to help move elderly people into a local community centre during the alert, which continued until the following day.

Antrim was also the scene of a bomb alert on Saturday. A number of homes in the Dorset Close area of the Rathenraw estate in the town were evacuated after a telephone caller warned a device had been abandoned in a wheelie bin.

A bomb hoax in Belfast caused serious disruption to motorists in the city centre on Sunday afternoon.

The PSNI were forced to close the major Westlink arterial route between Grosvenor Road and Clifton Street at around 1pm following the discovery of a suspicious object. Part of the M1 motorway was also closed off in the alert.

British Army bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion on an object, which was then taken away for further examination. The object was later declared a “non-viable hoax” by the PSNI and the motorway was reopened shortly before 7pm.

Urgent Appeal