Two freed after quiz over Northern Ireland PC murder bid

Two men being held in connection with the attempted murder of a police officer in Northern Ireland have been released.

The pair, aged 25 and 34, were arrested on Monday after a bomb was found under a police constable's car in east Belfast.

A spokeswoman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said today that the men had been released unconditionally.

A third man, aged 41, who was detained in west Belfast yesterday, is still in police custody.

The PSNI officer was about to take his wife and two children out for Sunday lunch when he discovered the bomb under the vehicle which was parked outside his home in Upper Newtownards Road.

Senior officers said the attack could have killed him and his family.

Dissident republicans have been blamed for the attack.

Last year, PSNI recruit Ronan Kerr was killed by an under-car booby-trap device in Omagh, Co Tyrone.

Police in Northern Ireland have been on high alert since the attempted attack and the discovery of a second explosive device near a police station at Tandragee, Co Armagh, on Sunday.

PA