DHAKA: Irish Republican Army (IRA) die-hards claimed responsibility on Saturday for detonating a small bomb hidden in a backpack in the heart of Belfast’s revived city centre.

The Friday night attack injured nobody but highlighted the determination of truce-defying IRA members to disrupt economic and social life in the run-up to Christmas, the busiest time of the year for Northern Ireland’s economy.

The blast displayed a level of recklessness not seen in previous bombing bids.

Police said a coded warning to a Belfast media organisation misidentified the bomb’s location as outside a hotel, not a restaurant, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1611 HRS, DEC 14, 2013
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor