Policeman hurt by explosion in nationalist area of Tyrone

AN RUC officer escaped with minor injuries last night after an explosion in the nationalist village of Pomeroy, Co Tyrone. The blast happened as the patrol, of which the injured man was a member, passed along Cavanakeeran Road near the Parkview Estate at around 9 p.m.

The RUC said the mobile patrol was passing through the area when the incident happened. Up to 70 houses were evacuated and the area was sealed off by police.

Residents were not expected to be allowed back to their homes before daylight.

Early this morning it was still unclear whether the explosion had been caused by a mortar bomb. The IRA has used mortars in a number of attacks on the security forces in recent weeks.

Pomeroy had been an area of heavy republican activity before the IRA ceasefire in 1994. Last summer, nationalists in the village refused to allow a Royal Black Preceptory parade to march through the village to the Church of Ireland church.

Several Protestant businesses have been devastated by the Catholic boycott in the wake of the Drumcree siege. The business people were accused of allegedly taking part in loyalist blockades during the stand off in Portadown.

The SDLP condemned the attack. The party's Mid Ulster representative, Mr Denis Haughey, said he was deeply disturbed by it.

"The Provos had received a vote for peace last May. They turned it into a mandate for war," Mr Haughey said. "It is a deeply depressing situation and I call on the IRA to immediately resume their ceasefire. It is the only hope for peace."

The explosion follows a mortar attack on an RUC patrol in Dungannon last week. On that occasion an explosion was heard and an elderly couple discovered a mortar tube in their back garden the next morning.

On the same day there was a major security alert in Lurgan when security forces discovered a mortar rocket and launcher at the back of houses near the railway station. Three men were arrested.

So far, the security forces have escaped serious injury in what has been described as a "half war".

In a separate security operation in Strabane, Co Tyrone last night - part of the Derry road was sealed off as army technical officers examined a suspicious object.

. Two people were injured last night in a paramilitary punishment style attack in Bangor, Co Down. The incident happened at 7.15 p.m. when four masked men with baseball bats forced their way into a house in Beechwood Avenue. A 23 year old man in the house had his arm broken and was beaten on the legs. A 19 year old woman was also beaten and suffered bruising to her knee.