Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 31, 2026
3 min readLast updated: March 31, 2026
Add as preferred source on Google
A fast-food delivery driver in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, was hijacked at gunpoint and coerced into driving a vehicle containing an improvised explosive device to the local PSNI station. A controlled explosion followed, with around 100 nearby homes evacuated; dissident republican groups are believed
By Amanda Ferguson
BELFAST, March 31 (Reuters) - Irish nationalist militants were likely behind the hijacking and placing of an improvised explosive device in a food delivery vehicle that was ordered to drive to a Northern Irish police station before the device was made safe, police said on Tuesday.
The fast food delivery driver was forced to stop by two masked men at around 2230 local time on Monday and drive to the police station in Lurgan, around 30 km (18 miles) from Belfast. He escaped from the car and alerted security staff that the hijackers had placed an object in the boot, police said.
Over 100 homes nearby were evacuated while a controlled explosion was carried out to make the device safe.
"Our investigation is in its early stages but we believe it's highly likely that dissident republican groups are responsible," Police Service of Northern Ireland Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said in a statement.
"We now know that this was a crude, but viable improvised explosive device. As unsophisticated as it was, it posed a significant risk to the life of the terrified delivery worker, our security staff and the local community."
While a 1998 peace deal largely ended three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, police officers are still sporadically targeted by small splinter groups of mostly nationalist militants opposed to Britain's rule over the region.
Some 3,600 people died during the conflict known as "The Troubles" between nationalists seeking a united Ireland, pro-British unionists wanting Northern Ireland to remain a province of the United Kingdom, and British forces.
"I utterly condemn this reckless act of violence, which has put people's lives at risk. There is no place for this in Northern Ireland," Britain's minister for the region Hillary Benn said in a statement.
The attempted attack was condemned by all political parties. The leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Gavin Robinson, said the use of a proxy bomb tactic - where militants force somebody to transport a device under threat - was "a chilling throwback to the darkest days of the Troubles."
(Reporting by Amanda Ferguson, writing by Padraic Halpin; editing by Sarah Young)
Police suspect that Irish nationalist militants or dissident republican groups were responsible.
The delivery driver was forced by masked men to drive to a police station, escaped from the vehicle, and alerted security.
Yes, police described it as a crude but viable improvised explosive device that posed significant risk to life.
Over 100 homes were evacuated and a controlled explosion was carried out to make the bomb safe.
The incident took place in Lurgan, about 30 kilometres from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
