'Barrack-buster' bomb made safe

Army bomb disposal experts have been made safe a fully-primed "barrack-buster" mortar bomb packed with 90kg of home-made explosives in Northern Ireland.

The device was inside a Toyota Hiace van, hidden in Altmore Forest, between Carrickmore and Dungannon, Co Tyrone.

It marks the end of a three-day clearance operation.

A hole had been cut in the roof of the van for the bomb to be fired towards its target.

The vehicle was discovered on Thursday after a man living in the area received an anonymous phone call to his home and found it himself before raising the alarm.

No group claimed responsibility but dissident republicans were blamed.

RUC Chief Inspector Brian Williamson, operations manager at Cookstown District Command Unit, Co Tyrone, has urged the public to remain vigilant, saying: "The sole purpose of a device of this nature is to cause death and destruction.

"At a time when the entire community is struggling to come to terms with the scourge of foot-and-mouth disease there are those who have nothing more to offer than devastation.

"Our present impetus of working together with other agencies to prevent the spread of the foot-and-mouth virus is being hampered by people who have nothing to offer our community. "