Tobermore Alert Ends As Device Removed

A second security alert in Co Londonderry within 24-hours has been cleared.

A crude device was found outside a vacant property on Main Street in Tobermore on Friday morning.

It has been suggested that the device may have been thrown at the house but failed to go off.

The alert began around 7.30am with a number of houses in the immediate area being evacuated.

The PSNI called out Army ammunitions experts who tackled the items which were then taken away for further examination.

The incident comes just hours after an explosive device was found at a house in Moneymore, also in Co Londonderry.

The alert was raised shortly after 10.30pm on Thursday, after police received reports of suspicious activity.

Police said an Army ammunitions expert made safe a viable explosive device in the back yard of a house at Smith Street.

Detectives at Cookstown have appealed for information about the incident and this can be provided through the Crimestoppers facility.

Ulster Unionist MLA Billy Armstrong has condemned the individuals or groups who planted two small explosive devices in Moneymore and Tobermore: "I unreservedly condemn whoever was responsible for the planting of explosive devices at Smith Street in Moneymore and Main Street in Tobermore.

"These devices had the intent to seriously injure someone, and the consequences of a child picking up such a device does not bear thinking about," he said, also urging anyone with any information "to come forward and pass that information on to the Police immediately".

Also yesterday, police in south Belfast were called out after the discovery of a suspicious object.

It turned out to be a viable explosive device and a number of homes were evacuated.

The incident was in the Ulsterville Place area.

The object was subsequently made safe by Army bomb disposal experts and removed from the scene for examination.

The PSNI is appealing for anyone with information about the incident to contact them.

(BMcC/KMcA)