Experts defuse Lurgan bomb

British army bomb disposal experts have defused an improvised coffee-jar device found inside the perimeter fence of Lurgan RUC…

British army bomb disposal experts have defused an improvised coffee-jar device found inside the perimeter fence of Lurgan RUC station in Co Armagh.

A controlled explosion was carried out on the device which was located following a number of telephone warnings yesterday morning.

It is believed the bomb may have been thrown at the station early on Tuesday morning. The front area of the station remained cordoned off for most of yesterday.

Meanwhile, police are investigating a sectarian pipe-bomb attack on a Catholic family of four in the north Antrim village of Cloughmills early yesterday.

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One device exploded inside the house causing damage to the hallway while a second was left outside on a window sill. A number of families had to be evacuated while bomb disposal experts dealt with the device.

Pipe-bomb attacks have increased with more than 100, mainly on Catholic homes, since the beginning of the year. In Larne, Co Antrim, a 28-year-old man received hospital treatment after being shot in the leg in a so-called paramilitary-style punishment attack.

The RUC intervened yesterday when loyalist and nationalist mobs clashed in the Limestone Road area of north Belfast. It has been a focal point for sectarian tensions in the city over recent weeks.