British police investigating last week's London bomb blast which maimed a teenage army cadet said today that Irish dissident republicans or other terrorist groupscould have been behind the attack.
Police had earlier said that a terrorist link to last Wednesday's explosion was not their first line of inquiry but tests have since shown that Semtex or another military explosive was used.
The 14-year-old cadet was blinded and lost a hand when he picked up the explosive device at a Territorial Army base in west London.
The head of Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alan Fry, said the device contained high explosives, pointing to a possible terrorist connection.
"Although we keep an open mind...the perpetrators obviously had access to high explosives and therefore we cannot rule out that Irish dissident groups may be involved," Mr Fry said.
Mr Fry said no group or individual had claimed responsibility for the bomb and he warned the public to be alert for further devices.
"We cannot rule out that there could be further attacks...and urge everyone to be vigilant of suspicious objects and packages," he said.
The Territorial Army is Britain's reserve force, separate from the country's full-time professional army. Most Territorial Army centres have cadet forces attached to them.