Dissident republicans were blamed tonight for a blast which damaged the perimeter fence of a British army barracks in Belfast.
British army technical experts confirmed it was caused by a viable explosive device and police said it was fortunate nobody was killed.
It was the latest in a series of attacks by dissidents opposed to the peace process in Northern Ireland.
Last week a booby trap bomb went off underneath a sports car owned by a police officer’s partner.
Neighbours heard a loud bang after a device was thrown over the front gate of the TA centre near the Antrim Road in north Belfast. One man was seen running away.
Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) area commander Chief Inspector Ian Campbell said the explosion occurred within the confines of the camp and he also revealed: “Shrapnel from the device has also been found in neighbouring streets.
Had an innocent person been in the area at the time they could have been killed or seriously injured.” The north Belfast Democratic Unionist Party MP Nigel Dodds blamed dissident republican groups for what he called a cowardly and reckless attack and claimed the same people were responsible for an escalating campaign of terrorist activity in the constituency.
He added: “I have no doubt that those responsible for this evil attack will be disappointed that they failed in their murderous intent and that no-one lost their lives.” Mr Dodds added: “The security response to the dissident threat must reassure local people that everything possible is being done to counter the threat of terrorism in our midst.”
A Sinn Féin councillor for the area, Tierna Cunningham, said the incident had endangered families living nearby.
She said: “Whatever group was responsible they need to realise that they will not succeed in their attempts to derail the peace process which has the full support of the overwhelming majority of people on this island, including the republican community who these groups purport to represent.”
She added: “These micro groups are trying to make themselves relevant but they need to explain how their actions will achieve a united Ireland.”
SDLP North Belfast Assembly member Alban Maginness said the attack was extremely disturbing.
“Those who cause these explosions are not going to achieve anything, whatever their objectives may be, because they have no public support whatsoever and they are not going to get any.”
He added: “Ordinary people want them off their backs, they want proper policing in a community which is not under any paramilitary control and they are quite prepared to support the police to put the dissident groups out of business.
“These groups are facing failure, public contempt and long jail sentences.”
PA