Minister decries pipe-bomb attack

The North's security minister, Ms Jane Kennedy, has condemned a pipe-bomb attack on a Catholic mother and four of her children…

The North's security minister, Ms Jane Kennedy, has condemned a pipe-bomb attack on a Catholic mother and four of her children in north Belfast on Thursday night. Police said the attack might have had a sectarian motive.

The woman, a mother of six, did not want to be identified but confirmed she intended to move out of her home in Manor Street.

Ms Kennedy said she would be meeting the PSNI Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, to discuss the security situation in north Belfast.

"We have the potential in Northern Ireland to build a society based on mutual respect, justice and equality. But there are those among us whose sectarianism threatens to poison that future. They cannot be allowed to succeed."

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The 36-year-old woman and four of her children, aged between one and nine, narrowly escaped injury when the device exploded while she was upstairs putting her younger children to bed.

The pipe-bomb, which police described as "substantial", contained nails and shrapnel. Holes were punched in the walls and ceilings of the living room when it exploded.

Nationalist politicians said the attack was the latest in a sectarian campaign perpetrated by the loyalist Ulster Defence Association.