Britian, April 21: A group of police officers on patrol Northern Ireland have been targeted by an improvised explosive device hurled at them while they were on foot in the Meadowbrook area of Craigavon.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the blast bomb did not injure any of the officers who were on their routine patrol at around 10:10 BST on Wednesday.
“It is by sheer good fortune that one of those officers was not killed or seriously injured,” said the police District Commander Chief Superintendent Alasdair Robinson.
This comes as a viable pipe bomb triggered a bomb alert in Carnhill, Londonderry, forcing the police to evacuate a number of houses.
Officers are examining the bomb that was discovered outside the home of a resident who was shot and wounded in an attack last week.
The alert is the second security incident in the area in less than a week.
The dissident group, Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD), claimed responsibility for last Friday’s shooting.
Residents fear the bomb has been also planted by the same group to “punish” the man who was wounded by five bullets fired at him in the attack.
“That’s the rumour that’s in the area,” a resident told to media, adding, “If that’s the case, if they’re going to punish people because of allegations, then what’s this? Are they going to punish the whole community as well?”
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the pipe bomb.
————Agencies