Northern Ireland police arrest 2 suspected IRA dissidents over pipe bombs

Northern Ireland police arrest 2 over pipe bombs

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Northern Ireland police say they have arrested two suspected Irish Republican Army dissidents on suspicion of possessing pipe bombs.

The men were arrested following Wednesday’s police seizure of two pipe bombs in the religiously divided town of Lurgan. British army experts dismantled both devices.

Kilwilkie is a working-class Irish Catholic district and a power base for IRA splinter groups opposed to Northern Ireland’s 1998 peace accord.

Police have increased security measures following three dissident car bombs this year. The blasts have caused little damage and no serious injuries.

The dissidents hope to unravel the IRA’s 1997 cease-fire and undermine the British territory’s Catholic-Protestant government.