Following the murder of journalist Lyra McKee, two arrested young men have been released in Northern Ireland. Allegations against them had not been raised, informed the responsible police on Sunday evening on Twitter and Facebook. The two men are 18 and 19 years old.

29-year-old McKee was shot dead last Thursday in violent riots in the city of Londonderry. She was standing in a group of people near police vehicles when a bullet hit her head.

The investigators assume a terrorist act. They suspect that behind the act, the militant Republican group could be "new IRA". She was also aware in March of package bombs that had appeared in London and Glasgow.

Two males, age 18 and 19, arrested by detectives investigating the murder of Lyra McKee have been released without charge. Full details at https://t.co/Y9tkeC81yJ

- PSNI DC & S District (@PSNIDCSDistrict) April 21, 2019

After the release of the suspects, the police asked the population for support. "We got a lot of help, but we need to translate it into concrete evidence that will allow us to bring the killers of Lyra to justice," the responsible authority wrote on Facebook.

Riots before the shot

Before the murder, more than 50 incendiary devices had been thrown at police near the crime scene on the outskirts of Londonderry. Vehicles burned. Previously, the officials in the neighborhood had searched for weapons.

Deadly shots in Londonderry

Journalist Lyra McKee died after being shot in Londonderry. The 29-year-old authored a book on the disappearance of young people during the decades of clashes between Irish nationalists and pro-British loyalists in Northern Ireland. She also worked for the US magazine "The Atlantic" and the online news portal "Buzzfeed".

Previously, violent riots had occurred in the residential district of Creggan in the outskirts of the city.

Triggers of the disputes on Thursday was a house search of the police, which wanted to prevent according to own data for the weekend planned violent attacks. At least 50 incendiary bombs were allegedly thrown at police units.

Ambulance arrive at the scene. Since the beginning of the year in Londonderry several explosives exploded. There were no injuries. One of them detonated in front of a court in the middle of the city in January after a recent warning to the authorities. Shortly thereafter, a group called "New IRA" pleaded with the attack.

Britain's planned exit from the EU recently raised concerns that the conflict between pro-Irish and pro-British groups in the British province could flare up again.

Passers-by dropped flowers at the crime scene in Londonderry to commemorate the killed journalist.

The trigger for the riots is said to have been the annual Easter protest in connection with the Northern Ireland conflict. Concerns have grown over the Brexit negotiations that a possible introduction of border controls between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which will continue to belong to the EU, could lead to more violence.

Decades of conflict

In the decades-long conflict, Catholic nationalists seeking union with Ireland faced Protestant unionists who want to continue to belong to Britain.

The vice-chairman of the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Arlene Foster, condemned the "pointless" violence. Other politicians spoke, among other things, of an attack on the Good Friday Agreement.

The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 had ended the Northern Ireland conflict. For decades, the IRA had violently fought for a break of Northern Ireland from Britain. It was not until 2005 that the violence officially swore off.