Two suspects have been arrested after the car bomb attack in the Northern Irish city of Derry. The two men between 20 and 30 were arrested on Sunday, police said in the British province. The investigators suspect that a faction of the Irish-republican underground organization IRA is responsible for the act. The explosion had occurred on Saturday night in front of a courthouse in the center of the second largest city in Northern Ireland. No one was hurt.
Investigations focused on the so-called New IRA, said Northern Ireland Deputy Chief of Police Mark Hamilton. "This attack was incredibly dangerous." Fortunately nobody was hurt. The scene continued to be closed on Sunday, explosives experts examined the car wreck. Politicians of all parties condemned the incident.
"Bloody Sunday"
In Northern Ireland, Irish Catholic nationalists and Protestant loyalists had fought for decades. 3,500 people died in the conflict. The city of Derry, which is called by the Protestants Londonderry, 1972 scene of the "Bloody Sunday". At that time, British soldiers shot at unarmed participants in an unauthorized demonstration. 14 people were killed.
The Northern Ireland conflict was ended in 1998 by the Good Friday Agreement. It assures, among other things, a sharing of power between Protestants and Catholics. The IRA, which had for decades violently fought for a separation of Northern Ireland from Britain, swore the violence officially in 2005.
Video: Police investigate alleged car bomb
AFP PHOTO / POLICE SERVICE OF NORTHERN IRELAND
The bomb detonated Saturday night at 8:10 pm local time (9:10 pm CET) on downtown Bishop Street. Nobody got hurt. A warning had been given 15 minutes before the explosion, when police began clearing surrounding buildings.
Hamilton reported that, among other things, hundreds of hotel guests and many children of a youth club had to be brought to safety. The car in which the bomb had been placed had therefore probably been stolen nearby shortly before.
The 85 000-inhabitant city Londonderry is located in the northwest of the province on the border with the Republic of Ireland. Irish Republicans, who do not recognize the British government of Northern Ireland, call the city Derry.