Updated at 8.15am
A BOMB HAS been found in Belfast, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has confirmed.
Belfast District Commander Chief Superintendent Nigel Grimshaw said the PSNI located “a significant, viable, explosive device following a comprehensive and painstaking search operation which started last night”.
A controlled explosion was carried out on the device at the Crumlin Road junction with Brompton Park.
Grimshaw said he is “absolutely convinced this attack was intended to kill police officers”.
If it had exploded it would have killed or seriously injured them and innocent people going about their daily lives in this area.
It was a reckless and shameless attack that demonstrated no regard for the people living and working in this area. This is a residential area, a commercial area, we have Holy Cross chapel nearby where people want to go and worship. This was designed to disrupt this community at its heart.
“My officers have put themselves in harm’s way trying to find this device and keep people safe. Despite the imminent threat, they have demonstrated the same selfless commitment to protecting communities that they do each and every day.”
Grimshaw said the people responsible “have a reckless disregard for life, which was compounded by them giving incomplete information regarding the whereabouts of the device”.
He added that he is “acutely aware of the disruption that has been caused by this device and our search for it” and thanked members of the local community for their cooperation.
“I am grateful that, at the start of this Bank Holiday weekend, we are not dealing with severe casualties as a result of this reckless attack,” he said.
Grimshaw noted that the investigation is at an early stage, but said the incident “has all the hallmarks of a dissident republican terrorist attack”.
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