Lurgan bomb tactic 'similar' to Omagh

Published Monday, 16 August 2010

There are "stark similarities" between a bomb which exploded in Lurgan at the weekend and the 1998 Omagh atrocity, a senior PSNI officer has told UTV.

We’re sorry. This video is unavailable from your location.

Two 12-year-old girls and a two-year-old toddler were slightly injured when the bomb went off in a wheelie-bin on Saturday afternoon.

Police were searching for a device near a school when the bomb exploded in another part of the town.

Chief Inspector Sam Cordner said it was a "miracle" they were not seriously hurt in what he described as a "sickening attack".

He said the vague nature of the warning police were given of the device had echoes of the Omagh bombing, which led to 29 deaths.

"There are stark similarities here with the Omagh bomb, with police being told there is a device in one location while terrorists detonate a device in another location," he said.

"The only saving grace was that there weren't more people in the vicinity where the device exploded, or we could be dealing with another Omagh bomb."

Dissident republicans are being blamed for the attack which happened on the eve of the twelfth anniversary of the 1998 atrocity.

The Chief Inspector said a full investigation was underway into the bomb and overnight violence in Lurgan, in which police came under fire from petrol bombs and gun shots.

First Minister Peter Robinson and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness condemned those responsible for the attack and overnight disturbances.

Mr Robinson said: "There can be no doubt as to just how depraved and evil these criminals are. Attacking young innocent children is callous and shows a complete disregard for the people of Northern Ireland."

Mr McGuinness said: "There is no justification whatsoever for yesterday's attack. No cause or belief will be served by attacks on our children. These attacks must stop and stop now, this is not the way forward for any section of our society."

Last week, PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott warned that dissident republicans were in danger of causing another Omagh bomb-style massacre.

"Dissidents are becoming more and more reckless", he said.

"These are the same people or the same mindset that ultimately led to the Omagh tragedy all those years ago."

"Their recklessness can be associated with the same recklessness that ended in Omagh".

His warning came amid an escalation in dissident attacks across Northern Ireland in recent weeks.

Comments

4 Comments

Des in Belfast wrote (646 days ago):

Try blaming the people who actually planted the bomb Ted - they're the ones who set out to maim and kill others. Another idiot who would rather blame the PSNI for the actions of terrorists rather than the terrorists themselves. Sad.

lorna in limavady wrote (646 days ago):

Ted did the security forces know about Omagh ? Did they fail to tell the police officers around the area ? If Martin is able to tell us there are talks going on between dissidents and the British/Irish governments he must have first hand knowledge of who these people are. They must be talking to him since both governments have denied it. Why will he not tell the security forces and bring such to justice, so we don't have a bomb like Omagh to deal with and the thought of innocent children being hurt ! At the minute he is all talk

Brian in Belfast wrote (646 days ago):

Ted. The similarities are that a bomb was reported to be in one place in an attempt to lure police into setting up an operation base or cordone where the real device was, to maximize the destruction and loss of life.

Ted in Belfast wrote (647 days ago):

What were the 'stark similarlities' between this and Omagh? Did the security forces know about the bomb and fail to warn us?