Man arrested after CIRA bomb attack

A man has been arrested after the Continuity IRA (CIRA) carried out a bomb attack in Enniskillen town centre last night.

The device exploded at around 7.15pm at the town hall in Water Street after the terrorist group made two warning calls. The device is understood to have consisted of about 10-15lbs of commercial explosive.

Police have said that six PSNI officers received minor injuries whilst clearing the area, but there are no civilian casualties reported. The town hall also suffered superficial damage.

Army technical officers attended the scene and removed the remains of the device for further examination.

A police spokesperson said: "This was bomb in the centre of the town, someone could have been killed last night. People were making their way to a funeral in the chapel at the time and people were making their way home – people could have been killed."

The MP for the area, Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew, said that the bomb attack was to be expected as the presence of the British army in the town was an act of "provocation".

Following on Mrs Gildernew's comments, a Unionist councillor in Enniskillen, Tom Elliot, has accused Sinn Fein of "providing cover for dissident republicans".

He added: "The Army didn't plant and detonate the bomb. The Army didn't attempt to kill or maim innocent people. The people she tried to make excuses for were responsible. It's clear that not only does she provide 'cover' for her associates in the PIRA, but she is now determined to include so-called dissident republicans in her checklist of excuses."

A similar phone warning claimed that a bomb had also been left in Omagh town centre. However, nothing was found during searches by security forces.

Politicians have said that last night's events were designed to increase tensions ahead of British Irish Inter-governmental talks in Hillsborough tomorrow.

The targets for the CIRA are significant as Omagh and Enniskillen were the scenes of two of Northern Ireland's worst terrorist outrages.

On November 11 1987, a bomb planted at Enniskillen's war memorial exploded killing 11 people and injuring 63. The IRA claimed responsibility for the atrocity.

In August 1998, a bomb which exploded in Omagh's busy shopping precinct killed 29 people – including a mother with unborn twins. The attack was carried out by the Real IRA, a breakaway faction from the mainstream IRA, led by the Provisional's former Quartermaster Michael McKevitt.

It has since been claimed in a television documentary that the CIRA and Real IRA were both involved in the planning and execution of the Omagh bombing.

The CIRA first gained headlines in 1996 when it claimed responsibility for a series of attacks across the province. It is understood that there may only be handful of active members in the organisation, largely made up of disaffected former members of the mainstream IRA which has been officially been on ceasefire since 1994.

The CIRA, like the Real IRA, is opposed to the Good Friday Agreement.

(GMcG)