Dissident republicans attempt to kill police officers with ‘explosive device’ in Northern Ireland, senior officer says

Chief superintendent condemns 'cowardly and evil attack of terrorism'

Police discovered an explosive device in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, that they believe was used in an attempt to kill officers (PA)

Dissident republicans have attempted to kill police officers responding to a report from the public, a senior officer in Northern Ireland has said.

Investigators believe a viable explosive device discovered in Craigavon, County Armagh, represented a failed bid to target members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) overnight on Friday into Saturday morning.

Chief Superintendent Peter Farrar said detectives were keeping an open mind on whether something had been fired but added that elements of the device were designed to murder officers.

He said: “I cannot condemn strongly enough those behind this cowardly and evil attack of terrorism.

“They offer nothing but heartache to this community and their actions here do not reflect the wishes of the vast majority of the good people living in this area.

“Huge disruption has been caused to the lives of those residents who live nearby, with people being evacuated from their homes in the middle of the night.”

At around midnight police received a report of a loud bang in the Tullygally Road area.

A short time later the PSNI was contacted by a Belfast-based newspaper reporting that it had received a call claiming a device had been fired at a police patrol but had missed its target.

Officers and bomb disposal experts from the army responded and a suspicious object was discovered, and later confirmed as a viable explosive.

Mr Farrar said: “We believe that this attack was set up in such a way as to target local police officers responding to the area following those reports from the public.”

Twenty people were evacuated, including a pensioner aged 80.

The senior officer added: “Attacks on police and other security services are attacks on the entire community and they are an attack on our democracy.

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

Renegades who oppose the peace process have killed police officers, soldiers and prison officers in Northern Ireland, and parts of Craigavon have been a hotspot for dissident activity in the past.

Mr Farrar added: “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.”

He confirmed the focus of the police investigation is on dissident republican groups.

In April the journalist Lyra McKee was shot in the head and killed by a New IRA gunman while reporting on riots in Londonderry.

Press Association