THREE PSNI officers narrowly avoided injury when they were attacked by suspected dissident republicans using a rocket-propelled grenade.
The three officers were on foot patrol in Main Street, Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh, shortly after 11pm on Saturday when the attack took place.
Two were taken to hospital with severe shock and minor injuries.
Nearby houses were evacuated, and a burning car was discovered in the Chapel Bray area that police believed was linked to the attack.
Renegade republicans have been blamed for at least five other murder attempts on officers in the last year and Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde has warned the threat is at its greatest for many years.
Chief Supt Michael Skuce said: "This was clearly a case of attempted murder, we could have been dealing with multiple casualties this morning.
"There are families out there who will be counting their blessings that they are not grieving for a loved one. The disregard that this shows for the lives of [locals] and my officers is unbelievable.
"There are still a small number of people who refuse to live in peace, refuse to accept that Northern Ireland wants to move on and that Northern Ireland has to move on."
The chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, Sir Des Rea, said: "Those who carried out this deplorable attack have nothing to offer our society - they have no support from the community or any political party and will deliver nothing to our community."
DUP Assembly member Arlene Foster said: "This is not the first attack on the police service in southeast Fermanagh and I fear it may not be the last.
"The motivating factor here is deeply entrenched hatred, nothing more. Those who carry out such attacks have no regard for life."
Northern Ireland Office Security Minister Paul Goggins said: "The criminals who carried out this attack are trying to take Northern Ireland back to its violent past. They will not succeed, society has moved on."