Four held in hunt for dissident republicans

Four men were arrested today by police investigating dissident republican activity in the North.

They were detained in a series of co-ordinated morning raids in the Strabane area of Co Tyrone.

A number of houses were searched as part of the operation and items taken away for further examination, a Police Service spokesman said.

The men were taken to Antrim for questioning in the PSNI Serious Crime Suite.

The spokesman declined to give further detail but said the activities being investigated covered a period of months.

Dissidents are understood to have been behind attacks on the homes of members of the local District Policing Partnership – the bodies set up across the North to give local people and politicians a say in local policing.