Man charged after car bomb explosion outside Dunmurry police station
Man charged after car bomb explosion outside Dunmurry police station
A 66-year-old man is charged with attempted murder after a car bomb blasted outside Dunmurry police station near Belfast, with authorities linking the attack to the New IRA.
A 66-year-old man has been charged with several offences, including attempted murder, after a car bombing outside Dunmurry police station in County Antrim, southwest of Belfast. The attack occurred on the night of 25 April, and the suspect, arrested earlier in the week under the Terrorism Act, is due to appear before Lisburn magistrates court. Police say the New IRA may be behind the attack.
The investigation also outlines how the vehicle was hijacked from a male delivery driver in the Twinbrook area of west Belfast, with at least one attacker armed with a pistol. The suspects fitted a gas cylinder device in the boot and drove toward the station; the driver escaped and alerted security as police evacuated the area before the device detonated. No casualties were reported.
Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton praised officers for their bravery, saying they ran into danger and protected nearby homes, adding that it was “nothing short of miraculous” that no one was hurt. The attack bears similarities to a March incident at a County Armagh police station and has drawn comparisons with the older tactic of proxy bombs used by the Provisional IRA, from which the New IRA is a distant splinter.
