Police today warned the public against handling suspicious objects after a taxi driver removed a pipe bomb found near a health centre in Co Tyrone.
No-one was injured in the incident in Strabane but there was widespread condemnation of the bomb attack.
The taxi driver said the device was thrown into a car, but he decided to remove it after spotting that its fuse had not been lit.
A British army bomb disposal team confirmed it was a viable device.
The pipe bomb was found in a car at Ballycolman Lane in the Co Tyrone town, before it was taken to Bradley Way a few hundred metres away.
Meanwhile, an explosive device was found outside an unmanned police station in Northern Ireland, police said. About 30 homes had to be evacuated and 170 children moved to a nearby community centre because of the security alert in Crumlin, Co Antrim.
The unoccupied station is opposite a school attended by both Protestant and Catholic children.
The principal Christine Boal said she was disgusted. “We are supposed to be building a shared community, but this is a step back for the entire community," she said.
It is the third school to have been affected by security alerts in the Antrim area.
A pipe bomb was picked up by a pupil in the playground at St Comgall’s Primary School on Monday. It was apparently left by loyalists.
Police last night confirmed the device found in Crumlin was also viable.
Alliance Antrim councillor Alan Lawther said he was shocked by the new alert. “Nobody wants this violence on our streets, when will these people get that message?”
Additional reporting: PA