Man wounded by booby-trapped poster in Armagh
A pipe bomb has exploded causing serious injuries to a supporter of the peace process in the North.
Francis McCabe Jr was injured yesterday as he tried to remove a booby-trapped poster from a lamppost outside Crossmaglen, South Armagh.
Stormont deputy first minister Martin McGuinness said it was an attack on the political process that ended IRA violence.
Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Inspector Lorraine Dobson said: “Parts of what is believed to have been an exploded pipe bomb-type device have been taken away for further examination.”
The explosion happened as the man was taking down a poster from a pole near his family home.
South Armagh was notorious for republican activity during the North’s 30-year conflict.
Mr McGuinness said the attack followed a campaign of intimidation in South Armagh against local people who have taken huge personal risks advocating accountable policing in the community.
He added: “This was attempted murder and was an attack on the peace process and an attempt to intimidate the entire community of South Armagh and North Louth.”
The poster claimed that a second individual was a security forces informer, or ``tout''.
Mr McGuinness said: “This bomb attack was carried out by an organised criminal gang in the North Louth/South Armagh area.
“The family targeted are among a number of people who were recently told by police they were under threat from a criminal gang which has been masquerading as republicans.”
