We planted car bomb: ONH
Dissident splinter group Oglaigh na hEireann last night admitted planting an under-car bomb that injured the girlfriend of a police officer in east Belfast.
Using a recognised codeword the group said that it was a mercury tilt-switch-type device designed to cause maximum damage to the passenger side of the vehicle.
The republican organisation said a serving police officer who works as a dog handler was the intended target.
Police were on full alert last night after the attack which happened in a quiet residential street just half a mile from PSNI headquarters.
The 38-year-old woman was pulled from her mangled sports car at 7.30am and taken to hospital where she was treated for minor injuries.
She was reversing her red Mazda MX5 out of the driveway of a semi-detached house in Kingsdale Garden when the bomb exploded.
It is believed the woman often gave her partner a lift to work.
The attack sent shockwaves through the mainly unionist area.
While no details of the type of bomb have been officially released, police said it was viable and had been positioned under the passenger side of the vehicle.
Bomb disposal experts examined the car for several hours yesterday, while the street remained screened off from public view.
The attack signals a change of tactic for dissident republicans.
Last month the Real IRA detonated a bomb outside a policeman’s home in Derry on the same day that a pipe bomb failed to detonate outside his sister’s home.
The Continuity IRA claimed responsibility for the shooting of Constable Stephen Carroll in Craigavon in March.
Recent dissident activity in the greater Belfast area has been mainly confined to the group calling itself Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH), a collection of disenfranchised individuals from other republican paramilitary groups.
However, while it claimed responsibility for failed bomb attempts in Co Down and south Armagh, its violence in Belfast has to date been confined to paramilitary-style ‘punishment’ attacks.
It is believed to be the first time the group has used an under-car bomb, suggesting that someone with that expertise may have joined its ranks.
Under-car bombs were widely used during the Troubles by the IRA and INLA, and at a later stage by loyalists.
DUP leader and East Belfast MP Peter Robinson said: “Those responsible have nothing to offer and must face the full rigours of the law.”
Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said: “Attempts like this to derail the peace process must not be allowed to succeed.”
NIO security minister Paul Goggins said the attack was repulsive.
“Mercifully, this woman escaped with minor injuries but those who planted this bomb had murder in mind. They do not care who they kill,” he said.
