Stand against dissidents, SDLP urges
A community was tonight urged to unite against dissident republicans who placed a bomb in a hijacked vehicle and ordered its driver to park outside a police station.
The SDLP claimed the plot was designed to lure police to a location where they came under attack from missiles, including more than 30 petrol bombs.
Seven officers were injured in the riots, which involved youths as young as 14, in Lurgan, Co Tyrone.
Referring to the hijacking, a PSNI spokesman said a takeaway delivery driver was threatened at gunpoint while the explosive was placed in the back seat of his car at about 10pm on Tuesday.
He was told to park the vehicle outside Lurgan Police Station, but abandoned it outside St Peter's GAA Club in North Street, about 400 yards short of the station.
Dolores Kelly, SDLP MLA for Upper Bann, said: "This is the work of dissident republicans. There is no doubt about it.
"In Lurgan we are used to home-made bombs being used to entice police officers to a location where they are attacked. This is a sinister development in that pattern of activity.
"The driver was forced into the position of being a reluctant bomber. There are houses right up to the police station and it could have gone off with disastrous consequences."
Ms Kelly called on locals in Lurgan to stand firm against those responsible for the violence.
She said: "It is known that there are dissidents in that area and it seems that they are trying to use young teenagers to carry out their activities for them.
"It is clear that as a community we must take a strong stand against this kind of activity and work with the police in finding and apprehending those responsible for Tuesday night's events."
