PSNI attacked after series of arrests over killings

Police investigating the murder of two British soldiers in Antrim last weekend were attacked by masked petrol bombers after they made a number of arrests and carried out searches in Lurgan, Co Armagh last night.

One officer was injured when he was hit on the arm with a brick and a number of teenagers were arrested after the trouble, which also saw disruption to train services in the area.

A police spokesman said the trouble centred on north Lurgan and advised motorists last night to avoid the area, particularly Lake Street. He said rioters used stones, bricks, petrol bombs and other missiles against police search teams.

The trouble flared after PSNI officers arrested high-profile republican Colin Duffy, 41, in a dawn raid at his home in Lurgan in relation to the Real IRA murder at Massereene British army base last Saturday. Men aged 32 and 21 were also held yesterday and another man was arrested in the Antrim area last night.

Two people, a man (37) and a woman (30) were arrested in Craigavon in relation to the murder last Monday of Constable Stephen Carroll in the town by the Continuity IRA. A gun and ammunition were also seized. A total of five people are now being questioned about this killing.

Dissident republicans number around 300 and are “disrupted, infiltrated and disorganised “, PSNI chief constable Sir Hugh Orde said this morning.

Sir Hugh was speaking as a total of nine people were being questioned about the murders of two British soldiers in Antrim by the Real IRA last weekend and the murder of a policeman by the Continuity IRA in Craigavon on Monday.

"These groups are small. The Real and Continuity IRA are disrupted, infiltrated and disorganised," Sir Hugh said in a newspaper article and in a BBC interview this morning.

"We are working flat out with the security services and other specialists to disrupt and arrest them and lock them up for the rest of their lives."

Sir Hugh said dissident groups had tried at least 25 times to kill police officers over the last 18 months.

Special church services were held today to reject the return of violence and to encourage the public to show their support for peace.