Four questioned in connection with attempted murder of soldier

Police are today questioning four people in connection with the attempted murder of a soldier in Belfast.

Security forces said he was lucky to escape with his life after he spotted a bomb underneath the driver’s seat inside his car on January 5.

The soldier from Britain had been visiting a girlfriend when dissident republicans opened the door of his UK-registered Vauxhall Astra and slipped the device beneath the seat.

Three men, aged 43, 40 and 30, and a 41-year-old woman were arrested in north Belfast yesterday.

Police said they were taken to Antrim Serious Crime Suite where they are being questioned. Officers also searched nine properties in the area.

The dissident group Oglaigh na hÉireann claimed it was responsible for the murder bid.

The car had been parked in a housing estate off the Ligoneil Road in a nationalist area of the city, but police said they did not know when or where the bomb was planted.

It is understood the soldier noticed a wire connected to the driver’s seatbelt and then discovered the device below the seat.