Police claim to have foiled attacks by the Real IRA with the seizure of two booby trap devices in a major undercover border operation, it emerged today.
Two men, suspected dissident republicans, were also arrested when armed and uniformed officers stopped a car in a planned swoop near Newry, Co Down.
A third man may have escaped. He is believed to have been driving a second car in which the booby traps were discovered a quarter of a mile away.
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No details emerged about likely targets, but the new Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Hugh Orde, said death and mayhem had been foiled. "Lives have been saved," he said.
The two men arrested, age 35 and 36, are believed to come from the south Down area where houses in Newcastle and Castlewellan were later searched as part of a follow-up operation.
They are well known to the police in Northern Ireland, security sources said.
It is understood police commanders have established a definite link with the Real IRA, the organisation which bombed Omagh in August 1998, killing 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins.
The seizure was the first significant blow against the terrorists since Mr Orde became Chief Constable three weeks ago.
The Chief Constable had already warned of a high terrorist threat by dissident republicans and this had all the hallmarks of a significant surveillance operation. Troops were also involved.
A car with two men inside was stopped on the Omeath Road outside Newry late last night. The devices were discovered in a second car about a quarter of a mile away. It is believed to have been following behind.
At the scene today, Mr Orde said: "We are convinced that by arresting and locking up dissident republicans we will prevent people dying in Northern Ireland."
North Co Louth, not far from where the arrests were made, is one of the main bases of the Real IRA.
The Chief Constable said: "The dissident threat was extremely high when I took over this job and this is more evidence to support that assessment. I'm not speculating at this point as to who the targets may have been but make no mistake, there was an intent to place these devices under cars."
He added: "People in Northern Ireland do have to realise that as long as we have to deal with this sort of activity and the street violence that has taken place on the streets of Belfast, the more stretched we are in trying to deal with ordinary crime."
The Chief Constable said it was clear that dissident republicans continued to threaten individual police officers.
PA