Belfast Bomb Was 'Attempt To Injure Or Kill...

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Hundreds of people attending Christmas parties were evacuated as the device exploded in the city's busy Cathedral Quarter.12:28am UK, Saturday 14 December 2013

A telephone warning was given about the bomb but the wrong location given

A bomb which exploded in the centre of Belfast where hundreds of people were packed into bars and restaurants had the potential to kill, police have said.

The blast in the city's bustling Cathedral Quarter has been blamed on dissident republicans opposed to the peace process.

Christmas partygoers were evacuated when the device detonated just before 7pm on Friday evening. There were no reports of any injuries.

Chief Superintendent Alan McCrum said the bombing had been a totally reckless attack that could have killed or maimed anyone nearby when the device went off.

"This was an attack on the people of Belfast going about their normal lives on a busy night for socialising in the city. This attack ruined the night out for these people., " he said.

"Those who carried out this attack have nothing to offer except disruption and destruction. Police would appeal for continued community support and vigilance on the run up to Christmas in seeking to disrupt or deter any further attack on the city."

A warning had been given about a device, however it was left at a different location to that named in a call to a newspaper.

It is understood the device was contained in a box that was left on a pavement in front of a busy restaurant.

Stormont's Justice Minister David Ford said the blast was an "attempt to kill or injure innocent people".

"The people carrying out these attacks have set out no reason and explained no cause for their acts of senseless violence. Their only aim seems to be to injure and disrupt. They ignore the strength of public support for normality and peace, especially at this Christmas season."

Security has been ramped up in the city since a man was forced by masked dissidents to drive a car bomb to a shopping centre that faces a police station last month. That 60kg (132lb) device only partially exploded and no-one was injured.

While the threat posed by the violent extremists has remained classed as severe, police have acknowledged a "surge" in activity has taken place in recent weeks.

http://news.sky.com/story/1182189/be...injure-or-kill

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Security tightened in Belfast after ‘Oglaigh na hEireann bomb...
Armed Police in the Cathedral Quarter in Belfast after a small explosion on Friday evening.

Security measures are being ramped up in Belfast city centre following an explosion outside a busy restaurant that could have killed festive revellers.

With thousands expected to hit the capital’s high streets on what is to be one of the busiest Christmas shopping days of the year, police have appealed for vigilance.

And businesses are continuing to urge people to support trade by venturing into the centre.

The city was left reeling after the bomb exploded in the bustling Cathedral Quarter district just before 7pm last night. No-one was injured in the blast.

Police were in the process of evacuating around a thousand people from bars, eateries, residential accommodation, a theatre and a hotel when the bomb exploded.

They were responding to a bomb warning phoned through to a Belfast newsroom.

A spokesman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said today security would be stepped up to prevent a further attack on the city.

Police have been stopping cars and checking car boots at the entrance of Castle Court Shopping Centre in the city since last month.

Other security checkpoints were set up throughout Belfast after a man was forced by masked dissidents to drive a car bomb to a shopping centre that faces a police station last month.

That 60kg (132lb) device only partially exploded and no-one was injured.

In a separate statement today, the PSNI requested member of the public in north and west Belfast particularly to be vigilant over the coming weekend, and to report any suspicious behaviour.

The scene of the blast had been cleared this morning. There was no sign there had been an explosion - bar a slight black mark on a wall.

Police said last night that the person who made the warning call wrongly claimed the device had been left at a hotel, when it was actually placed on the pavement beside a restaurant.

Dissident republicans opposed to the peace process have been widely blamed for the attack.

While police described the explosion as “small” they said the device still had the potential to inflict lethal injuries.

In November dissidents were also blamed when a bus driver in Londonderry was forced to drive a bomb to a police station in the city. She abandoned the vehicle before reaching the destination and the device did not explode.

While the threat posed by the violent extremists has remained classed as severe, police have acknowledged a “surge” in activity has taken place in recent weeks.

The Irish News newspaper, which received the bomb warning, said the caller claimed to represent terror group Oglaigh na hEireann.

Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny joined police, political and church representatives and traders in condemning the attack.

“I condemn this atrocity as a mindless attack on the sanctity of human life, carried out by people whose depraved agenda cannot, and will not, be allowed to gain a foothold in Northern Ireland,” he said.

“We must remain ever vigilant in ensuring that peace in Northern Ireland is maintained, and that it continues on its path to becoming an ever more progressive society.”

Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness have described the bomb attack as “despicable”.

Mr Robinson said he condemned it in the strongest possible terms.

“Once again we are witnessing the work of a mindless minority who are intent on taking the heart out of the city and wreaking havoc on the lives and businesses of the people of Belfast and Northern Ireland,” Mr Robinson said.

Mr McGuinness said those responsible had shown a complete disregard for human life.

“Their actions have done nothing to move our society forward but instead have caused distress to local residents, disruption to Christmas revellers and loss of revenue for surrounding businesses,” he said.

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/reg...bomb-1-5750484

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Dissident terrorists achieve their goal... making headlines!
Dissident republicans have claimed responsibility for a small explosion in Belfast city centre's Cathedral Quarter area on Friday
BY BRIAN ROWAN – 14 DECEMBER 2013

It was a small explosion but with big headlines.

And for the dissidents this was about timing and impact.

They knew the panic they would cause on this pre-Christmas Friday night in one of the busiest parts of the city.

The Cathedral Quarter is one of those places that stands out as being part of the new Belfast.

But last night's bomb – placed by the faction Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH) – was a reminder of this city's old days.

Police responding to a telephone bomb warning were clearing the area when the device went off.

Restaurants, pubs and parties were interrupted. For the dissidents this represents success.

They want to cause fear in the city, images of those old-time security operations. They know there is news in their actions.

Following a recent incident at the Victoria Sqaure complex when a car bomb partially detonated, the police responded with high-visibility security.

It included checkpoints, Land Rovers parked on roads close to the city centre, closing lanes and slowing the traffic flow. Very quickly, new policing can be made to look like old policing.

The dissidents also know there is no such thing as perfect security – there are always gaps and blindspots.

It doesn't take long to place a bomb, what Chief Constable Matt Baggott recently called a "surge" in dissident activity.

In Belfast it includes two recent gun attacks on police vehicles and two city centre devices.

Those actions have put the dissidents in the news at a time of high-level political talks.

US diplomat Richard Haass and talks vice chair Meghan O'Sullivan are working to get agreements on flags, parades and the past – three issues that represent the unfinished business of the peace process.

But whatever is achieved in this negotiation, Haass can't make the dissidents go away.

That is another challenge for another day and for another set of people; a challenge that stretches beyond policing and intelligence into politics and the republican community.

Who can make the dissidents stop? Who can get through to them?

Who can convince them that their actions will change nothing in terms of the big political agreements and compromises?

What they can change, in the here and now with a coded warning and a small bomb, is how this city functions.

That's the story of last night.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/de...-29837744.html

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Bomb explosion in Belfast as Christmas revellers evacuated from city centre
No one injured in partial blast, which occurred as police were clearing the Cathedral area of the city

Hundreds of Christmas revellers had to be evacuated from central Belfast on Friday night after a bomb partially exploded during one of the busiest nights of the festive season.

The device went off as police officers were clearing the Cathedral area of the city around 6.45pm.

The police had been responding to a telephone warning that a bomb had been left in the district. Republican dissident group Óglaigh na hÉireann later admitted responsibility for the bomb, which they said was left inside a rucksack.

It appears the bomb was intended to target officers who were trying to usher civilians out of the area. It is understood the device only partially exploded during the clearance operation.

No one was injured in the blast, which was close to the packed commercial area where some of Belfast's most famous bars and restaraunts are situated.

Police along with army bomb disposal officers sealed off the Talbot Street and Exchange Street area in a follow-up security operation. The Police Service of Northern Ireland's helicopter was also deployed in the operation.

Residents in apartments around the cobblestone streets of the Cathedral Quarter, which is also a popular tourist destination, were also evacuated from their homes. Belfast City Council opened an emergency refuge for the residents at City Hall.

Democratic Unionist Stormont Assemby member Jonathan Craig condemned the incident as "absolutely reckless".

He added there was "an explosion as the area was being cleared" and that it was a "miracle" if no one had been injured.

The Alliance Party's South Belfast Assembly member Anna Lo also condemned those responsible for the bombing.

Lo said: "There is no place in our society for those responsible for this bomb.

"They have no regards for the consequences of their actions and do not care if people are injured or killed.

"I am disgusted by their actions. The vast majority of the public have accepted the peace process and do not want to see violence return to our streets. There is no support for those behind this disgraceful attack on society.

"If anybody has any information about those behind this bomb then I would urge them to contact the Police to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice."

Over the last few weeks dissident republican terror groups have carried out bomb attacks not only in Belfast but also Derry.

A fortnight ago the new IRA in Derry tried to force a female bus driver to take a large bomb into the city centre and leave the device outside a police station. Instead the driver risked her own life by driving the bus with the bomb on board to a rural location out of the way from built up areas.

In the same week Oghlaigh na hEireann forced a man from the Ardoyne area of north Belfast to drive his car with a bomb on board into the centre of the city. The driver alerted police after he abandoned the car outside the Victoria Square shopping centre which is across the road from the PSNI's Musgrave Street police station.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/13/bomb-explodes-behind-belfast-st-annes-cathedral?