Derry murder and bomb discovery flagged up by new EUROPOL terror report

The EU Terrorism Situation and Trend 2020 report refers to the killing of Lyra McKee in April 2019 and the discovery of a bomb last September.

The law enforcement agency said the UK reported ‘55 security-related incidents by Dissident Republican (DR) groups in NI (UK) in 2019, four of which targeted national security targets, such as public authorities, police and the military, compared to just one in 2018’.

The report states: “Of note was the murder on April 18, 2019 of a journalist, who was standing near a police vehicle observing rioting in Derry/Londonderry, when she was hit by a bullet. The incident produced a strong community backlash against DR violence.”

It says the threat from violent republicans remains severe.

“Methods and capabilities vary across DR groups with many attacks involving the use of firearms or small improvised explosive devices (IEDs), such as pipe bombs, but larger and/or potentially more destructive devices, such as vehicle-borne IEDs and explosively formed projectiles (EFPs), have also been deployed. For example, in September, a suspected command wire-initiated explosive device (CWIED) containing high explosives was located in a car parked in the Creggan area of Derry/Londonderry. Of interest is the re-employment of a known IRA modus operandi, in which a hoax device is used to lure security services to the location where a secondary IED is placed, with the intention to kill or injure responding officers,”