Shots fired at police in Northern Ireland

 
An IRA splinter group is believed to have been responsible for a gun attack on a police patrol in Derry, Northern Ireland.

Shots were fired at the PSNI officers as they responded to a call regarding a stolen car in the Glen Road area of Derry at around 11pm tonight. A number of shots were fired although there are no reported injuries. It appears that dissident  republicans attempted to lure the officers into a trap.

Hostilities have all but ended in Northern Ireland were a devolved power-sharing government between Sinn Féin (the political wing of the mainstream IRA) and Ulster Unionists has been put in place. The majority of Irish Republicans have moved into democratic politics however a small number continue to use violence to further their aims.

In 2009 two British soldiers and Police Officer were killed by groups calling themselves the Real IRA (RIRA) and Continuity IRA (CIRA). They were the first deaths suffered by the army or police at the hands of republicans since the mainstream Provisional IRA called a ceasefire in 1997.