Devices found as alerts continue

A pipe-bomb and two mail-bomb attacks on the PSNI in the space of 24 hours appear to be the latest signs of an increasingly active campaign by the republican armed groups.

A device was thrown on Tuesday at a parked PSNI vehicle in Derry city centre but bounced harmlessly away.

The PSNI said it believed one of the armed groups had attempted to “create headlines of murder and destruction”.

The next day, a pipe bomb was also reported to have been thrown at a PSNI patrol in Newtownabbey, County Antrim, Two ‘suspicious objects’ were discovered during a subsequent search. One object was declared a hoax by British Army experts, while the other contained combustible material and was said to be ‘viable’.

The attacks follows a pattern of incidents and alerts in recent weeks, involving several devices which sparked evacuations and road closures, as well a mortar rocket attempt on a PSNI base in Derry.

The incidents have stretched the capacity of the Crown forces in the North, although none of the devices are believed to have exploded. That pattern continued again today [Friday] with the discovery of two small devices which were mailed to Britain’s top police chiefs in Ireland.

Early this morning an object posted to PSNI Chief Matt Baggott was found at a sorting office in Newtownabbey. A few hours later a second device was found in the post centre in Lisburn and destined for another senior PSNI officer.

British Army bomb disposal experts were deployed to defuse the devices, one of which was described as ‘viable’.

British Direct Ruler Theresa Villiers said those behind the latest incidents “have almost no support” and had shown a “blatant disregard” for the safety of others.

Urgent Appeal