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Frantic Cops Hunt IRA Bomb

Police from both sides of border team to find 300-lb. device

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 12, 2009 9:22 AM CDT

(Newser) – Security forces from both sides of the Irish border are scrambling to find a 300-pound bomb that the Real IRA may have smuggled from the Republic into Northern Ireland. A telephone call alerted authorities that the device was intended for an army barracks. Belfast was also on alert after a device that turned out to be a "sophisticated hoax" was discovered, reports the Telegraph.

"The red light went up on Monday and there is a panic on that the next thing to happen is a bomb somewhere in the north," said one Northern Irish security officer. The tip-off came on Monday, after the murder of two soldiers in Antrim but before the shooting of a police officer later that day.

A Police Service of Northern Ireland officer salutes the coffin of Constable Stephen Paul Carroll, as it arrives at his home in Banbridge, Wednesday, March, 11, 2009.
A Police Service of Northern Ireland officer salutes the coffin of Constable Stephen Paul Carroll, as it arrives at his home in Banbridge, Wednesday, March, 11, 2009.   (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Police Service of Northern Ireland officers take up position near Lismore Manor, Craigavon, Northern Ireland, Tuesday, March, 10, 2009.
Police Service of Northern Ireland officers take up position near Lismore Manor, Craigavon, Northern Ireland, Tuesday, March, 10, 2009.   (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
A bullet hole is seen at Massereene army barracks in Antrim, Northern Ireland, Monday, March, 9, 2009, after two men fired on four soldiers Saturday.
A bullet hole is seen at Massereene army barracks in Antrim, Northern Ireland, Monday, March, 9, 2009, after two men fired on four soldiers Saturday.   (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Irish Republican Army dissidents fatally shot a policeman in the head as he responded to an emergency call, just 48 hours after the killing of two soldiers.
Irish Republican Army dissidents fatally shot a policeman in the head as he responded to an emergency call, just 48 hours after the killing of two soldiers.   (AP Photo / Peter Morrison)
Several thousand Irish Catholics and British Protestants united in a silent protest Wednesday against IRA dissidents who gunned down two soldiers and a policeman.
Several thousand Irish Catholics and British Protestants united in a silent protest Wednesday against IRA dissidents who gunned down two soldiers and a policeman.   (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
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