Pipe Bomb Attacks Probed In North

There have been two separate pipe bomb attacks overnight - one in Londonderry and one in Coalisland.

During the early hours of Monday the windows of two homes were shattered by a blast in the Co Tyrone town at Castlehill Terrace where the windows were blown in at about 3.40am this morning.

The PSNI said that two cars were also damaged and that initial inquiries suggested that the explosion was caused by a pipe bomb.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that an "a crude but viable pipe bomb-type device" was the cause of an overnight security alert in Londonderry.

Army bomb experts were called in to examine an object within a car parked at Cromore Gardens in the city on Sunday night.

As some 30 homes were evacuated in the incident, the police officers were attacked with missiles including bricks and fireworks being thrown at the scene.

In another - separate - incident, a petrol bomb was thrown in the John Street area of Ballymoney at about 3.30am on Sunday, but no damage was caused.

The police have also been busy in another part of Co Antrim with four people ending up in hospital after a fight involving 20 people in Cullybackey.

The disturbance outside a bar in the Main Street area was reported to police at around 2am on Sunday.

Three men and a woman remain in hospital after the incident although none are believed to have sustained any serious injuries.

North Antrim MLA Mervyn Storey said he was "shocked and saddened" by the weekend violence.

"Whoever is behind this fight, whether it was organised or not, it cannot be tolerated in a village like Cullybackey," said the DUP Assembly Member.

Elsewhere, local Alliance MLA David Ford and Alliance Councillor Neil Kelly have both expressed shock at news of a shooting incident in Antrim town on Friday night.

Shots were fired though the kitchen window of a house in Portlee Walk where a man in his 40s and a couple in their 20s were in the house at the time.

Justice Minister, David Ford MLA said: "The local community will be horrified at news of this attack.

"Those involved in this attack have an agenda of fear and we need people with information to come forward and help police catch these evil elements.

"My thoughts are with those who were in the house at the time of this attack as they try to get over this ordeal."

Cllr Neil Kelly said: "There has been a very troubling spate of pipe bomb incidents in the town in recent months and this news deeply worrying.

"People in Antrim are sick of the very small number of of individuals who have been involved in these incidents. Anyone with information on any of them should contact police immediately."

Their sentiments were echoed by Ulster Unionist MLA Danny Kinahan who has unreservedly condemned Friday night's gun attack on a house in the Parkhall area of Antrim.

"I unreservedly condemn this attack on a house in Portlee Walk in the Parkhall area of Antrim town and would appeal to anyone who has any information which could assist the Police in catching the perpetrators, to come forward immediately.

"The people of Parkhall, like the rest of the people in South Antrim want nothing to do with this type of activity and simply wish to be left in peace to live their lives and bring up their families free from gangsters and gunmen," he said.

(BMcC/GK)