A police car on patrol in Belfast was struck by a grenade in the early hours of Wednesday morning in an attack described as an attempt to kill the officers inside.
Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief superintendent Jonathan Roberts has said the police car was on routine patrol when it was hit. After the car was struck.,
No casualties have been reported following the attack on Milltown Row off the Falls Road at 2am on Wednesday.
“A loud bang was then heard and the police car made its way to a place of safety,” Mr Roberts said.
“Thankfully, none of the officers inside the vehicle were injured and no damage was noted to the car.
“A police operation was immediately implemented to ensure the safety of everyone in the area and that operation is ongoing at present.
Grenade attack on police in West Belfasthttps://t.co/VIMie6XMxE
— Police Service NI (@PoliceServiceNI) December 4, 2019
“The remnants of a suspected grenade have been recovered and taken away for forensic testing,” he said.
Police said they are in no doubt that the attack was mounted as an attempt to “kill or injure police officers”.
They are appealing for any further information related to the attack.
Northern Ireland has been plagued by violence in recent years. The attacks targeting police and civilians are remnants of the so-called Troubles, the sectarian conflict which overshadowed life in Northern Ireland for decades before hostilities ceased as part of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
In April of this year journalist Lyra Mckee, 29, was shot and killed during rioting in Londonderry's Creggan estate.
The New IRA, a nationalist paramilitary organisation formed between 2011 and 2012, claimed responsibility for the murder which was condemned across the country’s sectarian divide.
