The bomb attack on the RUC station in Stewartstown is the second attempt dissident republicans have made to worsen community conflict in Northern Ireland at this time of year. In 1998 the same group tried to drive a car containing a 1,400 lb bomb to Portadown or a neighbouring town at the height of the Drumcree protests. The bomb was abandoned because of the high security presence in the area. Had it exploded it could have precipitated a violent reaction from loyalists.
Yesterday's explosion in Stewartstown is the first car bomb used by the "Real IRA" since Omagh. In the aftermath of the Omagh atrocity the group called a temporary ceasefire but last year began recruiting and training new members. Since the start of this year the group has carried out attacks on six security bases in Derry, Fermanagh and south Armagh.
They used improvised bombs in two attacks and their own home-made "Mark 18" mortars in attacks on security bases at Roslea, Co Fermanagh and in south Armagh. They also attempted to use a Russian-manufactured RPG18 but the weapon failed to fire. It appears that since the Omagh atrocity the group has given up on its policy of attacking what republicans term "economic" targets. There was one small bomb attack on a hotel in Irvinestown, Co Fermanagh at the start of the year but this caused little damage and may have been a trial run by a unit of dissidents.
According to senior security sources, the "Real IRA" group has grown in strength and has a foothold in a number of nationalist areas of the North. The spread of its attacks, from Derry to Fermanagh and Armagh, shows it is increasing in ability and confidence.
Security sources say the group is constantly improving and stretching the skills and experience of its bombers and it is inevitable it will eventually succeed in carrying out more serious attacks.
Security sources say the "Real IRA" has also closely aligned itself with the group known as the Continuity IRA which carried out a small number of bombing attacks in the mid-1990s but which never caused any deaths. This alliance has contributed to the geographical spread of dissidents opposed to the Belfast Agreement and to the Provisional IRA ceasefire.