POPPY DAY PIPE BOMB
‘Viable’ device is found
A PIPE bomb found moments before a Remembrance parade sparked Poppy Day terror yesterday.
The “viable” device was discovered close to a memorial in Omagh, County Tyrone, for the 29 killed in a Real IRA blast in 1998.
Police branded it a “sickening attempt by cowards to create fear” after it forced organisers to suspend the parade through the town.
The improvised explosive was spotted at the war memorial just as the remembrance service was due to start.
Police, including bomb disposal teams, were scrambled as large crowds gathered for the wreath-laying ceremony.
Chief Constable George Hamilton said experts were examining the device. He added: “The disruption of the Remembrance Day parade and service was just sickening.”
Chief Inspector Graham Dodds said: “This is a sickening attempt by cowards to create fear and disruption on a day when many gather to pay their respects to the brave men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice, and must be unreservedly condemned.”
Ulster Unionist councillor Chris Smyth said Omagh would not be “cowed by terrorists”. The parade later went ahead on a diverted route.
Dissident republicans targeted Omagh 19 years ago in one of the bloodiest killings of The Troubles. And 11 died in a bomb attack in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, on Remembrance Sunday in 1987.