Strabane:Fifth man arrested over attempted murder of two PSNI officers

The four men who had been arrested earlier have been released

Security alert in the Mount Carmel Heights area of Strabane
Author: Chelsie KealeyPublished 22nd Nov 2022

A fifth man has been arrested over the attempted murder of two police officers in Co Tyrone.

Detectives from the PSNI's terrorism investigation unit arrested the 38-year-old in Strabane under the Terrorism Act.

He is being detained at the Serious Crime Suite at Musgrave Police Station, and a search has been carried out in the Coalisland area.

The four men who had been arrested earlier have since been released.

The men - aged 38, 36, 36 and 28 - were arrested under the Terrorism Act after police conducted a number of searches in Strabane on Friday and Saturday.

They were questioned by detectives at the Serious Crime Suite at Musgrave Police Station in Belfast.

The two officers had been on patrol on Thursday at Mount Carmel Heights when a bomb was detonated at the side of their vehicle, prompting police to pursue a "strong line of inquiry" into whether the New IRA were involved.

PSNI assistant chief constable Bobby Singleton said the location of the incident in Strabane and previous attacks made the involvement of the dissident republican splinter group a possibility.

Neither officer was injured in the attack, which caused a major security alert in the area, affecting more than 1,000 residents and leaving some children unable to get to school on Friday.

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Strabane: PSNI probing possible New IRA link to bomb attack