Businesses in Belfast were put on high alert tonight after an incendiary bomb partially exploded in a city centre store.
The device, planted in the JJB sports shop in the main Royal Avenue shopping street, is thought to have failed to properly detonate some time during the early hours of the morning and was discovered by staff when they arrived for work today.
British army bomb disposal experts worked throughout the day before giving the all clear.
Dissident republicans were believed to be behind the attack - the first on a city centre store for a considerable time.
Following the security alert, the Police Service of Northern Ireland area commander, Chief Inspector Trevor O’Neill, criticised those responsible, accusing them of having a "callous disregard for human life".
PA