Mortar bomb and command wire found at West Belfast alert... It is understood police have found a mortar bomb and command wire during a security alert in west Belfast. A 22-year-old man was arrested on Thursday night in connection with the alert. The bomb was found at the junction of the Shaw's Road and the Glen Road in the city. The find comes two weeks after dissident republicans fired a mortar at a police Land Rover as it drove along the Falls Road. Army bomb experts were called to the area to examine the device. Parts of both roads had been closed, but have now reopened. West Belfast MP Paul Maskey said he had been told by police that an "improvised device" had been found. He said 12 families had been moved from their homes during the alert. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-26782144
Bomb in holdall sparked Belfast alert... Published Friday, 28 March 2014 A man has been arrested by police investigating dissident republican activity after an improvised explosive device was found in a holdall in west Belfast. The alert happened in the Shaws Road area. (© UTV) The discovery sparked a security alert in the Shaws Road area on Thursday evening. Police said the 22-year-old had been walking when he was stopped by officers from the Serious Crime Branch at around 11pm. A holdall with an improvised explosive device was seized. The device is being forensically examined. Detectives from Serious Crime Branch investigating dissident republican terrorist activity are questioning a 22-year-old man after police seized a bomb in west Belfast last night. PSNI Police added: "The investigation is at an early stage and police are appealing for anyone with information to contact them on the new non-emergency number 101." A number of homes in the area were evacuated while the army bomb squad investigated reports of a suspicious object in the Shaws Road area. The alert lasted overnight before ending on Friday morning. Cordons have now been lifted. Local councillor Tim Attwood has described the discovery of a mortar bomb and command wire in the west of the city as "deeply disturbing". The SDLP man said: "It is only through luck rather than design that innocents have not been injured or killed by these devices. There is no support for this kind of destructive activity in our city. People are sick, sore and tired of being forced from their homes or having their elderly relatives forced out." Sinn Féin MP Paul Maskey said those behind the bomb attempt need to listen to the community and go away. The West Belfast MP said those involved in so-called republican micro groups have nothing positive to offer the community. "This is another incident involving one of these micro groups, which has brought disruption and inconvenience to the local community. "West Belfast suffered enough during the conflict without having unrepresentative groups holding the future of this community to ransom with random acts of violence," he added. "There is a clear democratic path to achieving a united Ireland with republicans working towards that goal in every political institution throughout this island. This approach, resulting from the Good Friday Agreement, has been overwhelmingly endorsed by the people of Ireland. "Those behind this incident are sticking two fingers up to the people of this community and don't even attempt publicly to stand over their actions," he concluded. http://www.u.tv/News/Man-with-bomb-i...-4a32f339e2eb?
Man arrested following latest suspected dissident attack on police Suspect detained after second device linked to command wire is discovered A man has been arrested by the PSNI following the discovery of a mortar bomb and a command wire in west Belfast late last night. The arrest of the 22-year-old was linked to the discovery of a device in the Glen Road area of the city, which led to the evacuation of 12 homes. British army technical officers were called in to deal with the alert, which ended this morning. The incident followed a similar attempted attack by suspected dissident paramilitaries on a PSNI vehicle in the nearby Falls Road last week. In that incident, a command wire was used to detonate an improvised device near the City Cemetery as the police patrol passed by. The vehicle was hit, but only minimal damage was caused and no one was hurt. A dissident group, styling itself the IRA, said it carried out the attack. The BBC in Belfast said it was told by the group the device contained a quantity of semtex explosives. If true, this could mean dissident groups now have access to new supplies of high explosives rather than simply acquiring munitions, which were once in the hands of the Provisional IRA. It was the same grouping that murdered prison officer David Black as he drove to work along the M1 in Co Armagh in November 2012. http://www.irishtimes.com/news/irela...lice-1.1741654
