Police foil 'republican bomb attack'

Police shot and critically wounded a man as a suspected dissident republican bomb attack was foiled in Belfast city centre.

He was hit twice by officers who sprung a major security trap when a car was abandoned outside the city's motor tax offices.

Another man was arrested at the scene of the shooting in Franklin Street.

A security source said: "The only people who have shown any interest in bombing the city have been dissident republicans."

It is understood the two men had driven in separate cars to Upper Queen Street where the tax offices are located, close to Belfast City Hall.

One of the vehicles was then left there before the pair, who were under surveillance, left together. They had only got to the next street when police swooped.

Officers opened fire, striking one of them in the chest and leg. He was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.

The second man was seized and taken for questioning at Lisburn holding centre in Co Antrim.

A series of controlled explosions were carried out on the parked car before the security experts would go near it to find out what it contained.

The suspected attack is the latest in a series of terror strikes on Belfast this year. Both the Continuity IRA and the Real IRA have been blamed for car bomb bids in a bid to wreck the Northern Ireland peace process.