Police in Northern Ireland declare security alert after reports of a car bomb explosion

LONDON (AP) — Police in Northern Ireland have declared a security alert in the town of Dunmurry, on the outskirts of Belfast, after reports that a car bomb exploded near a police station.

Homes in the vicinity have been evacuated and members of the public are advised to avoid the area, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said on Sunday.

“It is distressing and disturbing to wake up to the news that a car bomb exploded outside Dunmurry police station last night,” said Sorcha Eastwood, a member of the U.K. Parliament who represents the Langan Valley, southwest of Belfast.

“A busy area, a car bomb left outside residential housing, small businesses and any number of people out and about on a Saturday night working or socialising,” she said. “It is only through the grace of God that there are no casualties.”

Police have released no information about the motive for the attack.

Last month, police said a “crude but viable” improvised bomb was used in an attempted attack on another PSNI station in Lurgan, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of Dunmurry.

Two masked men stopped a delivery driver, placed the device in the trunk of his car and forced him at gunpoint to take the device to the police station, according to authorities. Police carried out a controlled explosion after about 100 homes were evacuated.

Police said it was likely that the Lurgan attack was carried out by dissident Republican groups in a “pathetic attempt to remain relevant and provoke fear.”

The 1998 Good Friday Accords largely ended decades of violence between Republican groups opposed to British rule and those who want to maintain the region’s ties to the United Kingdom. Dissident groups that oppose the peace process still carry out sporadic attacks.