Controlled explosion on Clady van
A controlled explosion has been carried out on a vehicle at the centre of a bomb alert in the Co. Tyrone village of Clady.
Two men, aged 28 and 34, were arrested in Derry in connection with the alert and are held at Antrim serious crime suite.
The security alert began at around 9pm on Wednesday night when a Grey Renault van was abandoned at the Clady Bridge which crosses the River Finn into Co Donegal.
Local people became suspicious and decided to cordon off the bridge themselves as the police were called.
Shortly afterwards the PSNI received a telephone warning claiming that the van contained a 600lb bomb.
“Motorists and pedestrians were still passing by the van after it was abandoned and some young people were looking into it”, UTV’s Gareth Wilkinson said.
The village was later cordoned off by heavily armed police. Roads were also closed in Co. Donegal by armed Gardai.
The bomb squad was called in but the security forces proceeded with caution, fearful that there might be a secondary device planted in the area.
On Thursday, Clady was brought to a standstill. Homes weren’t evacuated but all business in the small village were closed.
“Half of the village is completely cut down. That’s the community here that’s been hit, and it’s been hit hard today,” Independent Councillor Gerard Foley told UTV.
Dissident Republicans have been blamed for the alert.
“What is the purpose of it?” Sinn Fein west Tyrone MP, Pat Doherty, asked. “What is the value of it? There’s no value that we can see, no purpose. They have no mandate, no agenda that they’re explaining to anybody and the whole thing is totally senseless,” Mr Doherty added.
“It’s very concerning for me, for the entire community that this sort of activity is returning to our street,” UUP Councillor Derek Hussey told UTV.
