Pipe bomb found near children’s park in Northern Ireland

Viable bomb discovered after police given warning that device thrown at station had failed to explode A bomb thrown at a Northern Ireland police station has been found near a children’s playground, police have said. The viable pipe bomb was discovered near the park in Strabane in Co Tyrone on Thursday after the Police Service of Northern Ireland received a telephone warning that a device thrown at the town’s police station the previous day had failed to explode. Chief Inspector Andy Lemon said a child could easily have been injured. “Had a young child lifted this, this device was so large, it doesn’t bear thinking about,” he said. “The threat in this area has been severe for some time, and the officers are carrying out a number of security checks. “I’m most worried by the fact that this was left in an area 50 yards from a play park, and there were people there, young children.” Dissident republicans have made several attempts to attack the security forces in Strabane over the past two years. Eighteen months ago the Real IRA staged an armed show of strength in the border town at the funeral of a republican veteran who had died in police custody. The Real IRA maintains a relatively strong presence in the north-west corner of Northern Ireland and has been active in Derry city where it has bombed banks and police stations and carried out numerous “punishment shootings”. Northern Ireland Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 1, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.