A bomb found in Northern Ireland last night was left outside a family home of a serving police officer, the force said.
Several homes were evacuated just after midnight as army bomb experts examined a suspicious package at Drumleck Drive in Shantallow, Derry. The PSNI officer does not live in the house, and the bomb has since been defused.
The bomb was under a vehicle that belonged to the policeman’s parents. This is the second time they have been targeted, but the elderly couple have vowed to stay at the house, Supt Chris Yates said.
The PSNI officer said: “This is the equivalent of a military hand grenade. The device had been initiated; it had the fuse lit on it, but it failed to fully explode." The pensioners' home was attacked by the Real IRA in 2009 using a similar device, but Mr Yates said they remained unbowed.
He added: “We are treating it as a terrorist investigation and as attempted murder because anyone next to this when it exploded would have been seriously injured and possibly killed.”
Dissident republicans have targeted police several times. PSNI constable Ronan Kerr was killed when a device blew up under his car in Omagh, Co Tyrone, last April.
Ministers and senior police have warned the threat level remains severe.
A rally in Derry by the Real IRA, which opposes the peace process, at Easter heard a masked man threaten further attacks on police and soldiers.
The Easter Monday event was organised by the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, which has links to the Real IRA. Republicans gathered for a march and wreath-laying ceremony.
The man, clad in a balaclava and black combat gear, who read a statement on behalf of the Real IRA, said its campaign of violence would continue.
PA