A GROUP CALLING itself the New IRA has claimed it was responsible for a bomb explosion in east Belfast that left one prison officer wounded.
The 52-year-old officer underwent surgery after a bomb partly detonated under his van on Friday morning.
The man was driving to work when police believe the device fell off the vehicle as it went over a speed bump.
In a statement to the BBC, the group claimed he was attacked because he had trained staff at Maghaberry Prison in Co Antrim.
The group said he was one of a number of “potential targets” resulting from an ongoing dispute between dissidents and prison authorities about their treatment in the facility.
Later on Friday, the PSNI said it fears dissident republican groups are plotting further attacks as the centenary of the 1916 Rising approaches.
Stephen Martin, assistant chief constable of the force, warned there were individuals within dissident groups “who want to kill police officers, prison officers or soldiers”.
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