A MAJOR cross-Border inquiry has begun into the planting of a 275kg (600lb) explosive device beside the Forkhill to Silverbridge road in south Armagh.
A command wire led from the scene to a firing point over the Border in Co Louth.
Garda and PSNI officers are examining the theory that dissident republicans, most likely from the Real IRA, were behind the failed attack.
The viable device, which was bigger than the 1998 Omagh bomb, was made safe by British army technical officers and has been taken for forensic examination.
A Belfast newspaper received a warning on September 1st that an explosive device had been left somewhere in south Armagh. This was passed on to the PSNI which began aerial surveillance of the region.
Police said yesterday that due to the vague nature of the warning it took until last Saturday to locate the device and evacuate the immediate vicinity on Carrive Road.
The Irish Timeswas told that the exact position of the bomb followed the passing of more information to the police by a member of the public.
One local source also suggested that an ambush of a police patrol may have been abandoned and that the bombers may have been reluctant to return to the bomb for safety reasons, or because the scene may have been monitored.
It is the third major bombing attempt so far this year which has been foiled by the police.
One of the six families removed from their home since Saturday said yesterday that they may sell up.
Reflecting a strong degree of local anger at the discovery of the bomb, one woman said she feared for her life. “They are out to kill me and my neighbours,” Marion Hollywood told BBC Northern Ireland.
PSNI Chief Insp Sam Cordner said: “There could have been a devastating outcome to this incident. The actions of terrorist criminals in planting this device in the Forkhill area put local people and police officers at significant risk. Their actions were reckless and dangerous in the extreme. Their target may have been the police, but they did not care who they killed or injured.
“It is only through the hard work and professionalism of police officers and their military colleagues that the area has been made safe.
“The actions of these criminals will not deter my officers from providing a service to the people of south Armagh,” he added. “Part of that service will be an investigation into the planting of this device. Anyone who can bring these criminals to justice should contact us.”
Referring to the length of the security operation in the Forkhill area, he concluded: “We want to thank the people of Forkhill for their patience and forbearance as we worked to make their area safe for them.”
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said those who planted the bomb were trying to drive a wedge between North and South and he condemned their actions as anti-republican.
“We spent years negotiating with the British to demilitarise the Border. That hard work led to the complete removal of oppressive watchtowers and massive cuts in troop numbers,” said Mr Ahern. “Those involved in this action are trying to reverse that work – to stop normalisation – to remilitarise the Border, cutting North from South once more. Their actions are anti-republican,” he said.
This attempted bombing follows a spate of dissident republican attacks including the murders of two British soldiers and a PSNI officer in March.
In January, a 145kg device was abandoned near a school just outside Castlewellan, Co Down. The size of the device and the apparent improvement in the dissidents’ bomb-making capacity alarmed the police.In May another significant device was made safe in a field in Co Fermanagh.