Northern Ireland Police say they believe dissident republicans will attempt to carry out a gun and bomb attack on officers in Derry on Easter Monday.
The PSNI believes the New IRA may be creating public disturbances after the Easter Rising commemoration parade in the city to lure officers into the trap, reports RTE.
Police Chief Simon Byrne underlined concerns about potential problems at a Northern Ireland Police Board meeting in Belfast this morning.
Shift patterns have been temporarily changed to shift officers into 12-hour shifts to maximize the numbers available for frontline duty over the next week, which will also include US President Joe Biden and the British Prime Minister Sage in Belfast Sunak visit.
The warning comes just a week after Britain’s security service MI5 upgraded Northern Ireland’s terror threat level to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely, reports RTE.
That decision followed the attempted murder of PSNI Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell in Omagh, County Tyrone, in February.
The officer was shot several times in a New IRA attack and is in “poorly condition” in hospital.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, the warning was reinforced by Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton, who will take over the police operation in Derry on Monday.
He added that intelligence has suggested that “there may be attempts to draw police into serious public disorder and to use that then as a platform to launch terrorist attacks,” reports RTE.
The PSNI believes the dissident republican group New IRA has increased its strength and improved its capabilities over the past year.
In April 2019 journalist Lyra McKee was shot and killed while watching the riots in Derry after a New IRA gunman opened fire on police officers.
Michael Martin made the remarks during a visit to Belfast.
“I think that news is shocking, and I think very worrying and I would condemn any attempts by anybody to injure or to attack the PSNI. An attack on the PSNI is an attack on all of us on this island. The police are essential to the security of our people and the PSNI, in my view, are doing a remarkable job under very challenging circumstances,” reports RTE.
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