Skip to content

Homes evacuated as 'suspicious devices' found

Lyndsey TelfordBBC News NI
Pacemaker Press A bomb disposal truck is parked along the side of the road. Other police vehicles are in the background and some uniformed officers can be seen on the street.Pacemaker Press

A number of homes have been evacuated after police found "a number of suspicious devices" during a search operation in west Belfast on Friday morning.

A 35-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of offences under the Terrorism Act, remains in police custody.

Officers are at a house in Edwina Street, off the Shankill Road, accompanied by Army Ammunition Technical Officers (ATO).

Meanwhile, residents in Dervock in Ballymoney have returned to their homes following a separate security alert.

Earlier on Friday, police said they were searching two properties in the Shankill Road area as part of an investigation into suspected terrorism offences.

Police said on Friday evening that a safety cordon is in place and they have asked the public to avoid the area.

A police car with its door open and blue lights on. It is in a street full of brick houses and a variety of cars. There is a police cordone further done the road with another police car in the distance.
A 35-year-old man was arrested for offences under the Terrorism Act

DUP councillor Ian McLaughlin said he was "shocked and saddened" by events in the area.

He said he understood what began as a "low level house search" had quickly escalated.

McLaughlin described it as an "unwanted and completely unwarranted incident" in what he said was a normally quiet community.

TUV councillor Ron McDowell said police should be "given the time and space to conclude their investigation".

The PSNI also confirmed a suspicious object was found in the Greystone Crescent area of Ballymoney in County Antrim.