Bombers ‘tracked parcel’ sent to Palace Barracks
The bombers behind the explosion in a postal van inside Palace Barracks in Holywood are believed to have tracked their deadly cargo every step of the way.
The device caused substantial damage at the Army base when it exploded on Friday morning and spread to two other cars and three garages nearby.
No one was injured during the attack as the postal worker was not inside the vehicle when the bomb went off.
It is believed those who sent the device to the site on the Old Holywood Road area had sent it using recorded delivery.
With this method, a reference number can be used online to track all the stages in the delivery.
Questions have been raised over what was a major security breach at what is supposed to be one of the UK’s most secure bases, which is home to both soldiers from The Royal Scots Borderers The Royal Regiment of Scotland and MI5.
“It’s certainly a new trend appearing in terms of following the actual parcel into its chosen place which they wanted to try and blow up,” former police officer Alan Mains commented.
“However I have to say it does give the security services and CID a potential line of investigation.”
There have been several attempts in recent years by dissident republicans to attack security personnel via the postal service.
Police are investigating, but said damage caused by the blaze and the firefighting operation meant the make-up of the device was proving difficult to be established.
The PSNI is also working closely with the Royal Mail to mitigate any potential risk.
It has also been revealed that postal staff have been given a special briefing on handling suspected bombs.
They have been specifically been told to look out for anything smelling of marzipan and almonds – a scent similar to that given off by the explosive Semtex.
Alan Mains told UTV: “If you handle a bomb in any shape or form, the last thing we would do historically in the police would be to touch it but postal workers are actually lifting it, putting it in, it’s very dangerous and to me it smacks of total disregard for people who are trying to do their everyday work.”
