{"id":5294,"date":"2019-01-29T10:05:26","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T15:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=5294"},"modified":"2019-01-29T10:05:26","modified_gmt":"2019-01-29T15:05:26","slug":"the-ira-claim-responsibility-for-derry-courthouse-bombing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=5294","title":{"rendered":"‘The IRA’ Claim Responsibility for Derry Courthouse Bombing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A group calling itself \u201cthe IRA\u201d has claimed responsibility for the bomb attack on a Derry courthouse.<\/p>\n

In a statement provided to local paper the Derry Journal, the group said it placed the car bomb which detonated in Bishop Street shortly after 8.10pm on January 19.<\/p>\n

The statement read: \u201cWe also caution those who collaborate with the British that they are to desist immediately as no more warnings will be given.<\/p>\n

The group added that it will \u201ccontinue to strike at crown forces and personnel and their imperial establishment\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll this talk of Brexit, hard borders, soft borders, has no bearing on our actions and the IRA won\u2019t be going anywhere. Our fight goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bomb and subsequent security alerts in the city were initially linked to a group called the New IRA, and police said investigating this group would be their \u201cmain line of inquiry\u201d.<\/p>\n

Days after the car bombing, the PSNI released CCTV footage that showed a group of young people pass the car shortly before it exploded in the city center street.<\/p>\n

Officers described it as a \u201cmiracle\u201d and \u201csheer luck\u201d no one was harmed.<\/p>\n

Police were given a 15-minute warning to evacuate the area before the bomb went off.<\/p>\n

The PSNI said that at around 7.55pm officers on patrol in Bishop Street spotted a suspicious vehicle.<\/p>\n

Local residents, including those in a sheltered housing complex for elderly people, were evacuated.<\/p>\n

The days that followed saw a number of security alerts in the city where two vehicles were hijacked at gunpoint, a third was stolen and abandoned outside a school, and hundreds of residents were evacuated from their homes.<\/p>\n

Five men arrested on suspicion of the car bombing have all been released without charge.<\/p>\n

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