Two police officers survived a bombing in Northern Ireland unharmed. Local police said on Friday they were investigating an attempted murder after the attack occurred late Thursday evening.
It would be a targeted attack in the town of Strabane, on the border with the neighboring country, the Republic of Ireland. The vehicle of the two officials was damaged. The area has been cordoned off for the purposes of the investigation. About 1,000 residents were affected and children could not go to school. The politicians of all confessional camps condemned the attack.
Sinn Fein Catholic Republican Party Vice-Chair and Northern Ireland’s first designated head of government, Michelle O’Neill, condemned the attack. Officials will fail to roll back the company, she said.
In Northern Ireland, Catholics – who mostly want reunification with Ireland – and Protestants – mostly supporters of union with Britain – have clashed for decades. The town of Strabane, which has 13,000 inhabitants and is almost exclusively Catholic, has been the scene of a particularly high number of attacks against British soldiers and police. Lately, the threats have increased again.
Northern Ireland is politically crippled by the dispute over special Brexit rules and currently has no functioning government or parliament.