Reuters
Army bomb disposal officers prepare to carry out a controlled explosion on a bomb discovered under a police officer's car in Belfast on Sunday.
By NBC News and wire services
BELFAST ? An attempt by militant nationalists to kill a Northern Irish policeman was foiled when a booby-trap bomb "clearly intended to kill" was found under his car, police said on Sunday.?
The attack was the latest by splinter groups of Irish republicans opposed to British rule of the province and a 1998 peace agreement that ended 30 years of sectarian conflict.?
It came two months after the first murder of a prison officer in almost 20 years and followed two weeks of rioting by pro-British loyalists protesting against restrictions on the flying of Britain's union flag from Belfast City Hall.?
The bomb, which the officials said was "clearly intended to kill the police officer,"?was discovered under the officer's car near the Northern Irish parliament in east Belfast, according to BBC?News. ?The officer found the device just before he was going out to lunch along with his family, the BBC added.
The officer's home and those of his neighbors were evacuated while army bomb disposal experts defused the device.?
"Obviously there are people out there who are still intent on causing murder and mayhem. Attacks on police officers are attacks on the entire community and cannot be allowed to continue," Assistant Chief Constable George Hamilton said in a statement.?
'Attempt to kill': Police in Belfast attacked as flag riots rage on
"Our belief is that this attempted murder was carried out by those opposed to peace from within dissident republicanism. They don't care who they attack, they don't care who they kill."?
More than 3,600 people were killed in Northern Ireland when Catholic nationalists seeking union with Ireland fought British security forces and mainly Protestant loyalists determined to remain part of the United Kingdom.?
Clinton condemns violence, revisits family legacy in trip to Belfast
Militant nationalists have stepped up attacks in recent years. As well as last month's killing of the prison officer, two soldiers and a policeman were shot dead in March 2009 and another policeman was killed by a car bomb in April 2010.?
Reuters contributed to this report.?
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