Two babies were being taken to safety by officers seconds before a car bomb detonated outside a police station in west Belfast, in an attack police have described as “nothing short of miraculous” for causing no injuries.
The device, fashioned from a compressed gas cylinder placed in the boot of a hijacked delivery vehicle, exploded shortly after 10.50pm on Saturday, April 26, 2026, outside Dunmurry Police Station in the Kingsway area. The delivery driver had been forced to drive the car from the Twinbrook area of west Belfast and abandon it outside the station. After spotting the vehicle, police personnel activated the station’s “attack alarm” and immediately began evacuating nearby homes. It was during that evacuation that two babies were being moved to safety when the bomb went up, engulfing the van in flames and sending debris in all directions.
An attempted murder investigation has been launched, led by the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Terrorism Investigation Unit. Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said the device was planted with “absolutely no warning” and that while it “may have lacked in terms of its sophistication and scale, it more than made up for in its reckless unpredictability.” He described the attack as “cowardly,” “senseless and reckless,” and “idiotic.” Officers, he said, had run into danger to evacuate residents, and the force would not be “deterred or distracted” by those intent on dragging society backward.
The attack bears strong similarities to an incident just over a month earlier, when a pizza delivery driver was forced at gunpoint to transport a “crude but viable” explosive device to Lurgan police station. That device failed to detonate and was safely disposed of in a controlled explosion. Police believe the “New IRA” is responsible for both attacks, and the PSNI has stated the group has claimed responsibility for the Lurgan incident.
Investigation and Condemnation
Political leaders across Northern Ireland have united in condemning the Dunmurry attack. First Minister Michelle O’Neill said those behind the explosion “speak for absolutely no one” and have “no vision, no support, and have nothing to offer our society.” Brendan Mullan, chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, said the device was “sent to kill officers and cause maximum harm in an attack which was in the heart of a residential area,” showing a “callous disregard for people living close to the station.” He added: “Such acts of violence have no place in a society committed to peace. We stand united in condemnation of those responsible for this terror, and in voicing support for the work of the officers and staff of the PSNI.”
Liam Kelly, chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, described the incident as “the definition of madness” that had “caused great upset and generated widespread and justifiable revulsion.” He branded those responsible a “throwback to the dark ages of the Troubles,” referencing the region’s conflict before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Deputy Chief Constable Singleton acknowledged there were “similarities between the two incidents” and reiterated that the Dunmurry attack was designed to kill.
The New IRA Threat
The New IRA is a dissident republican paramilitary group formed in its current guise in July 2012 from a merger of the Real IRA and other smaller republican factions. It opposes British rule in Northern Ireland and advocates for a united Ireland, rejecting the peace process that followed the Good Friday Agreement. The United States has designated the group as a terrorist organisation.
The group has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in Northern Ireland and across the UK. In 2017, Irish police foiled a major plot after discovering six kilogrammes of Semtex in Dublin. In 2019, the New IRA claimed responsibility for five suspect packages sent to locations including London City Airport, Waterloo station and Heathrow Airport. The group also attempted to disrupt US President Joe Biden’s visit to Belfast in April 2023 for the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Other attacks attributed to the New IRA include the shooting of Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell in February 2023, the murder of a prison officer by a booby-trap IED in March 2016, and the fatal shooting of a police officer in March 2009.
The broader threat from dissident republicans has been underscored by security warnings. The terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland was raised from “substantial” to “severe” in 2023, indicating that an attack is highly likely. Police have warned that “murderous intent and capability” still exists within paramilitary groups, and that dissident republicans are believed to have obtained leaked police data, raising concerns about future targeting of officers. The use of a car bomb and hijacked vehicle in Dunmurry echoes tactics employed during the Troubles; a car bomb exploded outside the same police station in January 1988, an attack attributed to the Provisional IRA.
