Loyalists blamed for Belfast bombing

Loyalist paramilitaries have been blamed for a pipe-bomb attack on a home in north Belfast overnight.

Loyalist paramilitaries have been blamed for a pipe-bomb attack on a home in north Belfast overnight.

The device exploded in a car at a north Belfast flashpoint area, narrowly missing a mother and her baby yesterday evening.

Sinn Fein councillor Ms Margaret McClenaghan said a pipe bomb was thrown over the peaceline from the loyalist Glenbryn area into the nationalist Alliance Avenue just after 6 p.m.

"The device flew over houses before landing in the back seat of the car and exploding," she said.

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"The mother in the house was actually on her way out with the child in her arms to put him into the baby seat, which was in the car and is where the pipe bomb exploded.

"They are very, very lucky. A few steps quicker and she would have actually been at the car, putting the child in when that pipe bomb came over."

Mrs McClenaghan said Catholic homes in Alliance Avenue had been attacked by stone throwers throughout the day before the explosive device was lobbed over the wall.

"It is all part of the UDA's (Ulster Defence Association) continued campaign against this street, which came very close to claiming a fatality," she said.

"People here are at their wits end. They just do not know what to expect but there does not seem to be any end in sight to the constant attacks on their homes."

It is understood a large security force presence was in the area in the aftermath of the incident.

A police spokesman later confirmed that when officers arrived on the scene they found a broken window in the car and internal damage.

However, he said the remains of the device were removed by local people prior to their arrival.

PA