Dissident republicans blamed Border bomb 'hoax'

 

A senior PSNI officer has appealed for information following what has been described as a “hoax security alert” in Rosslea, Co Fermanagh.

The incident, which was first reported on Monday night last, resulted in a significant public safety operation.
A vigilant member of the public discovered the suspicious device in the rural Clough Road area.
An Ammunition Technical Officer (ATO) attended the scene earlier today and, after examination, declared the object to be hoax.
Fermanagh and Omagh District Commander Superintendent Clive Beatty subsequently said: “We believe at this stage that this was the work of dissident republicans. Given the unprecedented challenges the PSNI is facing in relation to the Coronavirus pandemic, it is hard to fathom there are individuals in our community who are intent on causing such disruption by exploiting this global emergency for their own ends.”

He added that Dissident republicans are a “small minority” and added: “We need to stand as a united community, to say loudly that they are a disgrace and a distraction.
“It beggars belief that dissident republicans would want to exploit this situation for their own ends. Their selfish behaviour ended up diverting valuable police resources away from other community priorities for a significant number of hours. This says so much about dissident republicans - that in the face of a national emergency their first thought is to use the opportunity to target emergency services and first responders - the very people who are doing all they can to help communities and take care of the vulnerable.

Supt Beatty went on to thank the Rosslea community, who were disrupted by the incident, for their “patience and co-operation” during the security alert.

An Garda Siochana mounted a cordon South of the Border in neighbouring Co Monaghan.
“The dissident republicans responsible for this senseless act went to great lengths to make this device appear viable and to plant it on Clough Road. They didn’t care about the consequences of their actions and how it would affect others,” he concluded.