A 66-year-old man has been charged with multiple offences, including attempted murder, following a car bombing that targeted a police station in County Antrim. The attack occurred on the night of 25 April outside Dunmurry police station, located to the south-west of Belfast. Police have stated that they believe the New IRA may have been responsible.
Charges and Arrest
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) announced on Friday that the man, who was arrested under the Terrorism Act earlier in the week, is scheduled to appear before Lisburn magistrates court on Saturday. He faces charges including attempted murder, possessing explosives with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to property, causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property, possession of articles for use in terrorism, and hijacking by compelling persons to act.
Details of the Attack
The suspect is believed to have hijacked a vehicle from a male delivery driver in the Twinbrook area of west Belfast on Saturday, accompanied by an accomplice, with at least one of them armed with a pistol. They placed a gas cylinder device in the boot and forced the driver to proceed towards the police station under threat of death. Upon arrival, the driver escaped and alerted security personnel. Police evacuated the area before the device detonated. Fortunately, no casualties were reported.
Speaking the following day, Bobby Singleton, the deputy chief constable of the PSNI, noted that the attack was similar in nature to one on a County Armagh police station in March, which also involved masked individuals commandeering a civilian vehicle and fitting it with an explosive device. Singleton praised the officers who "immediately and courageously ran into danger, placing themselves in harm's way, and evacuated nearby homes to protect the community." He described it as "nothing short of miraculous" that nobody was hurt.
Historical Context
The attack bears parallels to the tactic of proxy bombs, or human bombs, used by the Provisional IRA, from which the New IRA is a distant splinter group, during the Troubles. This method involved forcing individuals to drive vehicles containing explosives to British military targets before detonating them, often resulting in the death of the driver and any targets in the vicinity. Those forced to carry out such attacks did so against their will, with their families frequently threatened to ensure compliance. Victims were sometimes chosen because they had communicated with members of the British security forces in some way.
