Sixth man arrested over attempted murder of two police officers in Tyrone

By Rebecca Black and Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

A sixth man has been arrested over the attempted murder of two police officers in Co Tyrone.

The 50-year-old man was arrested by detectives in the Strabane area and was being detained at Musgrave Police Station under the Terrorism Act.

A 38-year-old man arrested on Monday over the incident has been released following questioning.

The four men who had been arrested earlier – aged 38, 36, 36 and 28 – have also been released after being questioned.

They were arrested under the Terrorism Act after police conducted a number of searches in Strabane on Friday and Saturday.

The two officers had been on patrol on Thursday at Mount Carmel Heights when a bomb was detonated at the side of their vehicle.

Neither officer was injured in the attack, which caused a major security alert in the area, affecting more than 1,000 residents and leaving some children unable to get to school on Friday.

The incident prompted police to pursue a “strong line of inquiry” into whether the New IRA were involved.

PSNI assistant chief constable Bobby Singleton said the location of the incident in Strabane and previous attacks made the involvement of the dissident republican splinter group a possibility.

Political leaders in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland condemned the attack.