THE Andersonstown News can reveal that the Continuity IRA were responsible for the planting of an under-car booby trap bomb that brought the Blacks Road to a standstill last Friday morning.
The bomb was discovered by a passing police patrol near the junction with Arlington Drive just before 8am.
The CIRA told the Andersonstown News that one of its members had “targeted the home of a PSNI officer and placed the bomb under their car, but that en route to Woodbourne barracks the device had come off the vehicle.”
“The CIRA has had a complete reorganisation throughout the 32 counties of Ireland and is now in a position to sustain and carry out attacks on occupational forces throughout Ireland – including prison officials.”
Chillingly, the source, using a recognised codeword, added “more attacks are to come”.
SDLP Councillor Brian Heading said the community had been held to ransom “by those intent on creating chaos and misery,” adding: “Hundreds of commuters, including parents leaving their children to school, as well as those who had been evacuated from their homes, had been disrupted as they went about their daily business. There can be no justification for this kind of incident.
“What benefit do those behind this get? What goal does forcing pensioners from their home achieve? Week after week we go through the same callous, reckless pantomime. Those behind these attacks need to explain their actions to the people of this city.
“We cannot continue like this. And if they can’t explain themselves, then they need to get off the backs of people in this community and realise they have no support.”
Sinn Féin Councillor Matt Garrett said local children could easily have picked up the bomb after it fell off the car.
“Those behind this device need to catch up with the rest of the people of Ireland who have moved on from the past,” he said. “These groups are opposed to change but they will not stop us from moving forward to a more equal and peaceful society.”
