Bombings and shootings decreased in Derry and Strabane in 2023

Of eight bombing incidents across the North – including all instances where a bomb exploded or was defused – two occurred in each of the Districts Derry City and Strabane, Ards and North Down and Belfast, while one occurred in Mid Ulster and one in Causeway Coast and Glens.

This represented a year-on-year decrease of one from three in 2022 to two in 2023 in Derry and Strabane.

Discoveries of devices that were not complete or armed were recorded only as ‘finds’ and were not included in the figures as bombings.

There was equally a reduction in the number of shooting incidents in Derry and Strabane last year.

Of the 33 shooting incidents in the last 12 months, the greatest number occurred in Belfast (12), followed by Derry City and Strabane (9) and Ards and North Down (7). The largest increase in the number of shootings compared to the previous 12 months was in Belfast (from 7 to 12).

The number of shootings in Derry and Strabane decreased by three from 12 in 2022 to nine in 2023.

These included any shooting incident relating to the security situation and included shots fired by terrorists, shots fired by the security forces, paramilitary style attacks involving shootings and shots heard (and later confirmed by other sources).

Derry and Strabane experienced an increase in paramilitary-style shootings over the year with five such attacks.

This was a year-on-year increase of three in Derry and Strabane from two in 2022.

Belfast also experienced an increase in the number of paramilitary style shootings (9 during the last 12 months compared to 2 during the previous 12 months).

Ards and North Down experienced three attacks and Causeway Coast and Glens experienced two attacks.

According to the PSNI ‘paramilitary style shootings usually result in the injured party being shot in the knees, elbows, feet, ankles or thighs and the motive is supposedly to punish the person for antisocial activities’.

"These paramilitary style shootings are generally conducted by Loyalist or Republican paramilitary groups on members of their own community. Paramilitary style shootings that result in death are counted as ‘security related deaths’ and are not reflected in the paramilitary style shooting figures,” the security situation report explains.

There were three casualties arising from paramilitary-style assaults in Derry, which represented no change year-on-year.

The PSNI bulletin outlines how a paramilitary-style assault will involve ‘major or minor physical injury to the injured party typically involving a group of assailants armed with, for example, iron bars or baseball bats’.

Across the North as a whole there were 31 casualties of paramilitary style assaults during the last 12 months, compared to 25 during the previous 12 months. Belfast experienced the greatest number of assaults with 12, followed by Mid and East Antrim with 7.

Belfast saw the greatest year-on-year increase in the number of paramilitary style assaults (from 7 to 12) while Ards and North Down saw the greatest decrease (from 8 to 3).

All 31 casualties of paramilitary style assaults during the last 12 months were aged 18 years and above.

60% of bombings and 41% of shootings occurred in Derry/Strabane