Police in Northern Ireland have confirmed that one of their mobile patrols was attacked in North Belfast with a bomb that exploded in mid-air.
Dissident republicans opposed to the peace process are thought to be behind the attack. The device was either thrown or launched at an armoured Land Rover in the republican New Lodge district on Tuesday night, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said.
Several homes around the Victoria Parade area were evacuated as the security forces dealt with the device, the PSNI said. No one was injured in the blast, which happened at about 10pm, but a car windscreen was damaged.
PSNI Ch Supt Nigel Grimshaw said on Wednesday morning that the device appeared to have detonated in the air. “We know these types of incidents are carried out by a small but mindless number of people within our communities. They have shown a callous disregard for the safety of the local community and the police officers who serve it,” he said.
“We are very fortunate this morning that no one was killed or seriously injured as this incident occurred in a residential area, putting the lives of those living there at serious risk.”
Over the past year, republican dissidents have launched homemade warheads from handheld rocket-type devices at armoured police patrols in North Belfast. So far no officers or members of the public have been killed or injured in these attacks.
The main anti-ceasefire republican group operating in the north of the city is the hardline Óghlaigh na hÉireann.
