Suspect Charged Over Explosion Near Police Station In Northern Ireland – Police

MOSCOW, May 2 (Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti) -- A man suspected in the explosion near a police station in Northern Ireland has been charged with a terrorist attack, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said, reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti.

On April 25, a car loaded with explosives detonated near Dunmurry police station in western Belfast. No one was injured. The PSNI evacuated nearby homes. The PSNI’s terrorism investigation unit is looking into the attack.

On April 28, a group that calls itself the New IRA claimed responsibility for a car bomb explosion. United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the attack and promised to punish those responsible.

"Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Terrorism Investigation Unit investigating the attack on Dunmurry Police Station have charged a man to court. The 66-year-old was arrested under the Terrorism Act on Tuesday, April 28 in the Dunmurry area," the police said in a statement on Friday.

The suspected has been charged with possession of explosives, causing an explosion, possession of articles for use in terrorist purposes, and vehicle hijacking, the police said. The man is due to appear in court on Saturday, it added.

Later in the day, The Guardian newspaper reported that the suspect and his accomplice hijacked a delivery worker's car in west Belfast, then placed a gas cylinder in the trunk, and forced the driver to take the vehicle to the police station.

The driver fled and informed law enforcement, after which police evacuated people in the area before the explosive device detonated, the newspaper added.

In 1921, Ireland was divided into two parts. The northern part, mostly populated by descendants of English and Scottish settlers, remained part of the UK, while the rest became a British dominion.

This led to decades of armed conflict between unionists and Irish nationalists.

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) and other groups carried out numerous attacks, seeking the unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland.

The 1998 Belfast Agreement, also known as the Good Friday Agreement, paved the way for political normalisation.

-- BERNAMA-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI