Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
INCENDIARY DEVICES IN THE POST
‘Brexit best recruitment tool they’ve had in years’
there was no military involvement. The first device was spotted at around 9.55am at The Compass Centre, in Hounslow, West London. It was opened by staff and started to burn.
Police said: “No one was injured. The building was evacuated. Specialist officers attended and made the device safe. The building is not based at Heathrow Airport, and flights have not been affected.
“At approximately 11.40am British Transport Police were called to reports of a suspicious package in the postroom at Waterloo Station. The package was not opened. Specialist
seriously limit any New IRA activity on the ground because they do not want to get caught.
They would need a support network before and after any attack – while being hunted down by MI5 and counter-terrorism police, who are the best in the world.
All of this means a serious campaign here would be challenging officers attended and made the device safe. No one was injured.
“The station was not evacuated however cordons are in place at a small area outside the station on Cab Road. Train services are continuing to operate as normal. At approximately 12.10pm police were called to a report
for the New IRA. However, the police and MI5 cannot rely on this.
If this campaign does relate to Northern Ireland it looks like a warning of worse to come.
And that means MI5 and counter-terrorism police in Britain, in Ireland and Northern Ireland will be working round the clock to prevent it happening. of a suspicious package at offices at City Aviation House, Royal Docks, Newham. Staff were evacuated.”
London mayor Sadiq Khan said: “Our thanks go to police, security, transport staff and all involved for swift actions to keep our city safe.”
MI5’S threat warning of a Republican terror attack in Britain remained at “moderate” last night, meaning one is “possible”.
In 2014, the New IRA sent failed devices to Army career offices throughout England. It recently carried out a bombing in Derry.
But a source said the low quality of the explosives was a potential sign dissident groups are unable logistically to launch a lethal attack.
There were also theories yesterday’s packages could have been sent by Islamic groups, someone with grievance against transport firms or a person with mental health problems. HUNDREDS of dissidents are feared to have signed up to a new Republican terror group amid mounting anger over Brexit.
One source told the Mirror that groups including the New IRA have up to 200 active members, including some paramilitaries with years of experience during the Troubles.
Concerns over a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, plus broader concerns over our split from the EU, are feared to have radicalised younger Republicans. And a source said the New IRA has dozens of new members who have taken the “oath” – based on the text laid out in the old Provisional IRA green book.
The New IRA, blamed for a car bomb in Derry last month, has been handed locations of old IRA arms dumps never disclosed during the decommissioning process after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. They have AKM assault rifles, sub-machine guns, handguns and large quantities of commercial explosives including Semtex. It is believed they also have newer weapons smuggled in more recently.
The PSNI has called for back-up in the event of a hard border. It is reported 1,000 officers from Scotland and England are being trained for deployment along the border in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
One former Republican commander said: “Dissidents north and south are united in a way not seen before. There are around 200 active dissidents with experience and 100 or so auxiliaries.
“There are 500 sworn members. The support network seems solid and rising. We are seeing the people in the south uniting to join forces with the north.
“The north was such a bastion for so long while the south was seen as not wanting to bother. That’s changed. Brexit has been the best Republican recruitment tool for years.”
The source said the dissidents are well equipped and have taken steps against infiltration. They said of the weaponry: ”It’s good quality and there’s plenty of it. They have more gear than people. They also have access to large quantities of cash for planning and counter-intelligence. The money comes from smuggling.
“All the signs and rumours are that the News will go for broke in the hours and days after Brexit.”
But a Provisional IRA source said of the New IRA: “Active they would have 50 men, tops, who are capable. And even then only 20 who are really good. They would have around 200 supporters who would provide the back-up.”
He confirmed the green book was being used and members were taking the “oath”, particularly in rural areas.
He added not everyone was being “green-booked” as some volunteers are “trash” and “you wouldn’t want to bring them into the ranks”.
The source does not expect an immediate “big push” after Brexit but warned it will become a factor in radicalising a new generation. He said: “It won’t be dissidents, it will be the IRA, the Provos, who will have finally come to accept that the British Government sold them a pup and realise there is nothing in this for them so they will go back to war.
“The EU was seen as an honest broker in ratifying the peace, that’s how it was sold, it ratified protections in law and allowed families of people murdered by loyalists and the State to seek justice or closure in the European Court of Human Rights. And within five years, once people realise that the Brits are just pandering to the loyalists and the DUP, then that will be it.”
Former senior dissident republican John Connelly, jailed for 14 years for a Real IRA bomb plot, warned last month a hard border would create conditions for a “massive recruitment drive”. And he claimed any infrastructure like spy cameras on the border would be seen as a mark of a “foreign occupying military force”.
A study released last month by Professors Mark Brennan and Pat Dolan, of UNESCO, warned violence was “inevitable” if a hard border returns to the island of Ireland.