Bomb that damaged army base 'was the work of dissident republicans'

A bomb attack on a military base in Londonderry may signal an all-out offensive by dissident republicans, it was claimed last night.

A bomb attack on a military base in Londonderry may signal an all-out offensive by dissident republicans, it was claimed last night.

The dawn explosion damaged a perimeter fence and unmanned guardhouse at Ebrington Barracks, in the city's Waterside area. There were no injuries.

The RUC said a small device containing about 5lbs of homemade explosives had exploded one foot inside the perimeter wall of the army base at 6.30am.

The Irish premier, Bertie Ahern, condemned the bombing as an "attack on peace" and "anti-republican".

"I've no details of who was involved but I expect that, as in a number of events recently, it was dissident republicans," he told the Dublin parliament.

"Needless to say, I take the opportunity once again to condemn this futile attack. Such actions are anti-republican and will not overturn the democratic will of the Irish people."

The Sinn Fein chairman, Mitchel McLaughlin, said: "Quite clearly this isn't unrelated to the political crisis. Political vacuum provides the only space in which this small micro-group can operate."

The Progressive Unionist, David Ervine, called the bombers "buffoons" and said they must be marginalised. "All the dissidents need to to is get lucky once and there would be an element of loyalism who would react to it," he said. It could lead to a cycle of violence and once these cycles begin nobody remembers who started them."

The attack was the second on a security installation in Northern Ireland in less than two months, raising fears of a campaign by former IRA terrorists opposed to the Good Friday Agreement.

The Ulster Unionist leader, David Trimble, told the BBC: "There have been a number of incidents recently which have been attributed to dissident republicans. This may be another one. And there is reason to believe that dissident republicans are trying to launch a sustained campaign."

Gregory Campbell, a Democratic Unionist Party member of the suspended Stormont Assembly, warned: "Within a few months we are going to be faced with a major onslaught."

Six weeks ago in Ballykelly, 12 miles from Londonderry, terrorists tried to blow up army sleeping quarters at Shackleton Barracks, but the bomb failed to detonate properly. Later, in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, an armed rocket launcher was found abandoned in the garden of a house, yards from a security base. Police chiefs claimed an imminent attack was foiled.

There had been no warning of the explosion yesterday. The area was sealed off and a sniffer dog brought in to help search in and around the barracks, one of the main military barracks in Northern Ireland, home to hundreds of troops.

Two soldiers fell to their deaths while searching a coal ship in Northern Ireland.

Corporal Jeremy James Goulder, 31, and Sapper Joeli Albert Colsten Nai Valurua, 23, of the Royal Engineers, were part of a routine boarding operation on the ship, which had sailed from Colombia, in South America. They were assisting the Royal Navy in a search of the ship on Wednesday night, as it was preparing to dock close to a power station in Lough Foyle, near Londonderry.