Northern Ireland Police Investigating If Attempted Murder of a Police Officer a Terrorist Attack

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Northern Ireland police say they are investigating whether the assassination attempt on a police officer near Omagh was the work of republican terrorists.

“We are keeping all options open, but are primarily looking at involvement from the New Irish Republican Army” (New IRA), said a police spokesman. The victim is in the hospital in “critical but stable condition”.

The assassination attempt on Wednesday evening has deeply shocked Northern Ireland, and all parties have expressed their horror. A senior Northern Ireland police officer, John Caldwell, was shot at by two perpetrators in front of young people, including his son, after training a youth football team in his spare time.

The assassination attempt also fuels fears that terrorist violence may return to the Irish part of the United Kingdom. According to the local Belfast newspaper Irish News, an eyewitness said in shock: “Horrible, I thought we had put this behind us”.

The status of Northern Ireland has led to violent conflict between supporters (unionists) and opponents (republicans) of the region’s separation from the rest of Ireland for over a hundred years. From the 1960s to 1998, the republican terrorist group IRA (Irish Republican Army) was active in bombings and assassinations, among other things. The terror was not limited to Northern Ireland; the IRA also committed crimes in the rest of the United Kingdom.

The conflict was temporarily resolved with the peace agreements of 1998, and the IRA refrained from armed struggle. However, some IRA “dissidents” continued to strive for violent struggle. Some call themselves New IRA. The virtually open border with the Republic of Ireland as a result of EU membership also helped stop the violence.

However, since the British left the EU and Northern Ireland now has a temporary and disputed status within the EU, there are fears that political violence may return to the region.