Seized explosives 'were for imminent bomb attack'

Nearly 250lbs of homemade explosives seized by police in the North were being prepared for an imminent bomb attack, a police chief warned today.

As four men were being questioned about the discovery at a breakers yard in Lurgan, Co Armagh, Supt Alan Todd also confirmed dissident republican terrorists were the main suspects.

He described the quantity taken during a planned search of premises close to a housing estate as capable of the “carnage in our times wreaked in the past.”

The police commander said: “Material of that sort is by its nature unstable. The people preparing these things do so with the intent to use it as soon as possible.

“The device was being constructed for immediate use.”

Although Mr Todd said police were not aware what the intended target was, he expressed alarm that the bomb was being prepared so close to Lurgan’s Kilwilkee Estate.

And he added: “It’s a very worrying escalation at a time when the community is trying to move forward, that there is still a small number of individuals intent on swimming against the tide of public opinion.”

Police said the four men, aged 22, 26, 36 and 46, were being held under the Terrorism Act.

Three were arrested early this morning and one later at the scene on the town’s Antrim Road, close to the railway line.

Mr Todd added: “We believe it’s linked to dissident republican organisations.”

There were also reports of attacks on police officers involved in carrying out the operation.

The discovery provoked outrage in Lurgan, with the SDLP’s Dolores Kelly sayi: “People were shocked at the developments.

“The people of Lurgan are horrified that dissident republicans have been plotting and planning a major attack.

“There’s no doubt these dissident republicans were intent on causing major trauma and damage.

“They were also playing with the lives of the people of Lurgan by making such a sophisticated device in the heart of the community.”