Viable pipe bomb found by children’s play park in Northern Ireland

A pipe bomb was found close to a children's playground in Northern Ireland last night after an attack on a police station nearby failed, according to police officials Friday.

The device, which was described as a viable pipe bomb by the authorities, had been thrown at a police station in the border town of Strabane, Reuters reports.

In a statement issued today, police said the bomb was capable of causing serious injury or death.

On Thursday evening, authorities received a phone call alerting them to a failed attack on the police station the night before, meaning the device lay close to the children's play park for much of Thursday.

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Chief Inspector Andy Lemon condemned those responsible, describing the incident as "yet another example of the cowardly elements in our society who show no regard for the safety of local residents and the police officers who serve their community in Strabane.”

Lemon also said: "It does not bearing thinking of what could have happened had a child at the park discovered the device before anyone was aware of the potential danger."

Local woman Patsy Devine, whose two sons were IRA men killed by the British SAS, told the BBC that those responsible for the pipe bomb attack "need to leave people alone" and are only harming their own community.

The Guardian reports that dissident republicans have staged several attacks on security forces in Strabane in recent years.