Police officers escape County Down bomb attack

It is thought that dissident republicans were behind today's attack on two police officers in the Downpatrick area in County Down.

The officers were travelling on the Killough Road at around 2am, when their car was struck by an explosive device, which damaged the vehicle and caused the driver to lose control. However, the officers were unhurt, and were able to return to Downpatrick police station.

Commenting on the motivation behind the attack, Chief Superintendent Robert Robinson, said: "Although no-one has claimed it, in the last number of weeks we have had attacks on Downpatrick and Ardglass stations which were the work of dissident republicans."

The incident has been condemned by the SDLP and Sinn Fein, with SDLP MP for South Down, Eddie McGrady describing the attack as "attempted murder". He continued: "This attack on the new Police Service of Northern Ireland is an attack on the entire community. It is a most serious development putting in jeopardy the progress towards a peaceful society, towards which we are all striving – and also our hopes of creating a new future for our families and children."

These comments were echoed by Mick Murphy of Sinn Fein, who said that the perpetrators had "little or no support" and that they had neither "a mandate or indeed, a strategy to achieve political change". (CL)