Pipe bombs thrown at PSNI patrol car

Attack perpetrated on Belfast’s Crumlin Road in early hours of morning

Police officers in Northern Ireland have escaped injury after two pipe bombs were thrown at their patrol car in north Belfast.

The officers were targeted while responding to an emergency call in the Crumlin Road area during the early hours of this morning.

The devices were thrown as the two officers got out of their patrol car.

A PSNI spokeswoman said they were not physically hurt but had been left badly shaken by the ordeal.

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PSNI Chief Inspector Andy Freeburn, area commander in north Belfast, said police were treating the attack as attempted murder.

“This was a blatant attempt to murder our police officers who were out protecting the community. It is just sheer good fortune that they were not killed or seriously injured.

“The people who carried out this attack showed a total disregard for the people within this community,” he said.

The Crumlin Road has been closed and a number of homes have been evacuated. Some residents have taken shelter at Ballysillan Leisure Centre.

This is the second pipe bomb attack on a police patrol in Belfast in less than a fortnight.

A similar device was found after shots were fired at three police officers in the Foxes Glen area of Twinbrook earlier this month.

PA