Large bomb defused in Northern Ireland

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

A 600 lb bomb which was found in Northern Ireland has been defused by a bomb disposal team.

The bomb was found on the side of a road near the village of Forkhill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. It was defused by an expert bomb disposal team from the Irish Army. The explosives were home-made and weighed 600 lb (270 kg). It is believed that the bomb was planted there by dissident republicans.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland believed that there could have been a "devastating outcome" — and that they were also potentially targets of the bombers. Chief Inspector Sam Cordner said: "The actions of terrorist criminals in planting this device in the Forkhill area put local people and police officers at significant risk."

	Their actions were reckless and dangerous in the extreme
—Chief Inspector Sam Cordner

"Their actions were reckless and dangerous in the extreme. Their target may have been the police, but they did not care who they killed or injured. It is only through the hard work and professionalism of police officers and their military colleagues that the area has been made safe," Cordner said.

20 people had to evacuate their homes while the bomb was safely defused. Authorities took the device and will conduct a forensic examination.

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Sources

"Large bomb planted by roadside in Armagh" — Belfast Telegraph (Northern Ireland), September 8, 2009
"Army makes safe 600lb border bomb" — BBC News Online, September 8, 2009
"Bomb found in Northern Ireland" — Telegraph.co.uk, September 8, 2009
Henry McDonald. "Police find huge bomb on Irish border" — Guardian.co.uk, September 8, 2009

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Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.