A viable mortar rocket was discovered by police at the rear of an elderly and infirm woman’s home in north Belfast. Dissident Republicans are thought to be behind the explosive, which could have been used to target a vehicle.
On Thursday more than 30 homes were evacuated by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) as they made safe the explosive on Jamaica Street, in the Ardoyne area of Belfast. This largely Republican area is known for its dissident presence. The security authorities are on high alert as the groups have threatened to kill police officers in recent years.
PSNI Chief Inspector Andrew Freeburn said “The community in north Belfast is extremely angry this morning. I am very angry that someone would put the lives of their community at risk in this way and I would ask people to transfer their anger into action.”
Freeburn also appealed for the public’s help in finding who was responsible for the explosive. He continued “This device, if it had detonated, had the ability to murder not only its target but those in the immediate vicinity so it is a very worrying development.”
He added “There is nothing to suggest that this was anything other than dissidents.”
A PSNI spokesman told the Irish Independent:"This is not the first time such a device has been recovered by police in Northern Ireland but it is a worrying indication of the capability and intent of those individuals or groups who seek to bring death and injury back to our streets, our homes and our communities."
Detectives said the missile found at the back of the elderly woman’s property was a horizontal-style mortar which could have been directed at a specific target.
Freeburn believes the mortar could have been used to kill police officers. He also said the terrorists used the elderly woman’s infirmity to their advantage.
“People have perhaps used the infirmity of this woman to actually store this murderous device in the rear of the property,” he said.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.seanomelb | Oct 09, 2012, 07:05 PM EDT
Big enough to see through your rubbish comments Leah
leahkinsella | Oct 08, 2012, 07:42 PM EDT
Alois you're still speaking a load of rubbish I see which none of us can undertstand. Eoghan Harris is an award winning journalist. Maybe the truth hurts Sean. the truth about your heroes will come out eventually. So why don't you write to these journalists and state your views, I'm sure they would be interested and probably them. Come on, don't be afraid. You're a big boy now.
aloistmartin | Oct 08, 2012, 05:33 PM EDT
The PSNI are no better than British Soldiers ! God Damn Good Friday & Saint Andrews ! Better a Communist Yoke, than a Bourgeois Caning on the High Streets of Dublin !
seanomelb | Oct 07, 2012, 09:20 PM EDT
Maybe the truth hurts Leah. Let me see Eoghain Harris,Jim Cusack,Ruth Dudley Edwards and others are all anti nationalists and major contributors to the so called "Irish Independent",once a great paper (until the west brit O'Reilly got his hands on it). Let us call a spade a spade
leahkinsella | Oct 07, 2012, 06:18 PM EDT
pilibo4:will you stop calling Ireland leading newspaper a "West Brit rag". You are insulting the majority of irish people but maybe that what you intend to do.
canadianirish | Oct 06, 2012, 08:38 PM EDT
@aloistmartin - lol!!!
seanomelb | Oct 06, 2012, 05:57 PM EDT
show me the facts,sounds like a put up job
aloistmartin | Oct 06, 2012, 05:23 PM EDT
An Intelligence Agency hoax in Response to reports of Falling Eggs coming in all Directions about the Irish Capital !
pilib04 | Oct 06, 2012, 01:56 PM EDT
Cathy Hayes should be ashamed of herself for repeating such drivel. Her only evidence that dissidents were involved was an off the cuff comment made by a PSNI officer and printed in the WestBrit "Irish Independent" (which that rag is neither). The evidence is "There is nothing to suggest that this was anything other than dissidents."
jamthecat | Oct 06, 2012, 10:43 AM EDT
Maybe it was Republicans...but don't rule out Loyalists trying to cause trouble. They've bombed and murdered and laid the blame on the IRA far too many times to be ruled out as being behind this.
cillowen | Oct 06, 2012, 10:25 AM EDT
another walled town like palestine