Upper Bann MLA and Ulster Unionist Justice Spokesperson Doug Beattie MC MLA has strongly condemned a proxy bomb attack on Lurgan police station, describing the perpetrators as “callous” republican terrorists.

Doug Beattie MC MLA said:

“The attack on Lurgan police station by republican terrorists shows just how callous they are. 

“Having built an improvised explosive device (IED) in a residential area of the town, endangering anyone in the vicinity, they then hijacked a car, which was in the Kilwilkie area delivering pizza, holding the driver at gunpoint. The IED was placed in the car and the driver, a foreign national, was then ordered to drive the car through a residential area to deliver the IED to the front of Lurgan police station, or he would be shot.

“This type of attack, known as a proxy-bomb, was used extensively during the Troubles.  It is indiscriminate, it puts many people in danger, not just the target, and it disrupts the economic heart of the town, where shops will be closed and people will rightly avoid the area. It is also disruptive for the local population, most of whom come from the community this terrorist group says they represent, forcing them to leave their homes in the dead of night.

“It is clear these career terrorists do not have the support of any section of our sand, and I would urge anyone with information to pass it onto the police.  In the meantime, we must thank the swift actions of the police in evacuating the area and the military for making this deadly IED safe.”