A couple and their two-month-old baby had a narrow escape early yesterday when a pipe bomb was hurled into the living-room of their home in the nationalist Twinbrook area of west Belfast.
The device landed only feet from where the baby girl was sleeping but failed to explode. Three other children in the house also escaped unhurt.
A second device was found close to the house and families in several nearby houses were evacuated the devices were made safe.
The RUC said it was investigating a motive for the attack but could not rule out that it was a sectarian. The Sinn Fein President, Mr Gerry Adams, MP for the constituency, said he was "very concerned" and the incident was proof of the dangers of a political vacuum. "The wreckers in the No camp - whether they are the bomb-throwers or the people enunciating that the peace process needs to be destroyed - need to be put in their place. We do that by making the political process work," Mr Adams said.