Police to step up patrols after car bomb attack
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Luke Sproule
BBC News NI
PA Media
The bomb in a car exploded on Saturday night
Police will step up patrols and checkpoints after a bomb attack on one of their stations on the outskirts of Belfast.
A car bomb exploded outside the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) station in Dunmurry on Saturday night after a delivery driver was forced to transport it.
On Tuesday, Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck said the PSNI had "concerns about threats across Northern Ireland from dissident groups", and that people could expect to see more vehicle checkpoints and patrolling officers.
In a
statement
to the Irish News, the New IRA said it was responsible for the attack.
The dissident republican group said it had been an attempt to kill police officers as they tried to leave the building.
Police bodycam captures moment car bomb explodes
The driver's vehicle had been hijacked at gunpoint in Twinbrook, west Belfast, shortly after 22:50 BST on Saturday.
His vehicle was then fitted with a gas cylinder device before he was ordered to bring the bomb to the station, where it exploded.
The device detonated while police were directing local residents to safety, including families with young babies.
The attack took place in a built-up area, close to family homes in which many children were already in bed asleep.
PA Media
Northern Ireland Policing Board chairman Brendan Mullan, First Minister Michelle O'Neill, Deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly and Chief Constable Jon Boutcher spoke to the media in the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings on Monday
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Beck said the PSNI's job is "to keep communities safe and also our officers who bravely serve to protect these communities".
"We are taking every reasonable step to do so. However, we need the active support of our communities to do this."
The PSNI is treating the attack as attempted murder.
Northern Ireland's police chief said it was a "deliberate, reckless and stupid attack".
Jon Boutcher
praised the bravery of officers who "rushed towards danger"
to evacuate family homes close to Dunmurry police station.
Boutcher was speaking at a press conference at Stormont, during which the first and deputy first ministers and the Policing Board chairman also condemned the attack.
He called the bombers "mindless idiots" and urged anyone with information to contact the PSNI "before these people actually harm or kill somebody".
Who are dissident republicans?
The term "dissident republicans" describes a range of individuals who do not accept the Good Friday Agreement.
The Provisional IRA - the main armed republican paramilitary group for most of the Troubles - declared a ceasefire in the run up to the agreement and officially ended its violent campaign in 2005.
Dissident republicanism is made up of various groups which broke away from the Provisional IRA, including the Continuity IRA and New IRA.
The groups are much smaller than the Provisional IRA, although they have access to high-calibre weapons and explosive devices.
Police release body-worn footage showing 'reckless' car bomb attack
Car bomb explosion at police station treated as attempted murder
Dunmurry
Northern Ireland
Police Service of Northern Ireland