Police attacked amid Lurgan bomb plot
Police officers have come under attack while dealing with a security alert in Lurgan, which they believe was designed to lure them into the path of a viable device planted in the area to kill them.
The device exploded during a clearance operation on Saturday, after the alert began early that morning with a call to the Samaritans.
The call claimed that a device had failed to detonate.
Homes had to be evacuated in the Victoria Street area and a suspicious object was found.
But while police say that the device was “incapable of exploding”, officers were targeted by a secondary significant device which was found during follow-up searches and then went off.
PSNI Superintendant David Moore said: “This was a clear and unequivocal murder attempt on the policemen and women who serve the community in Lurgan.”
He praised the efforts of his officers and expressed disappointment at the repeated attacks during the operation after petrol bombs and bricks were thrown at security forces by what he called “a small and unrepresentative section of the community”.
He said police had put their lives at risk to save local residents “placed in grave danger by the heinous criminals” responsible for planting the viable device.
The security alert has now ended. It has been widely condemned by politicians who blame dissident republicans for the murder bid.
Senior officer in Lurgan has described plot to lure police to area where explosive device was planted as 'clear, unequivocal murder attempt'
— PSNI (@PoliceServiceNI) July 18, 2015
Earlier, SDLP councillor Joe Nelson said: “Once again we have disruption to north Lurgan – there has been a number of incidents of this nature.
“And really it serves no purpose only to disrupt the lives of those living in the area.
“It is not acceptable.”
Fellow councillor Carla Lockhart added: “This came early this morning and my understanding is 20 to 30 people have been evacuated.
“I would utterly condemn this. The people of Victoria Street don’t want this and the people of Lurgan don’t want it.
“This is a case of individuals of trying to mar Lurgan and to drag us back. The message is clear, people do not want it.”
Upper Bann MLA John O’Dowd said: “Those behind this alert are not representative of the people of Lurgan and should stop these pointless actions immediately.
“The people of Lurgan deserve peace and quiet and should not have to put up with this type of incident.”
All roads have reopened following the incident.
