2 IRA Bomb Blasts in Ulster Injure 3

Separate bomb blasts damaged Northern Ireland’s newest luxury hotel and injured three police officers at a gas station Friday. The outlawed Irish Republican Army claimed responsibility.

Employees and guests were evacuated from the Mourne Country Hotel in Newry after three warning calls to a Newry hospital, and a charitable organization, police said.

Minutes later, a car bomb exploded outside, causing extensive damage to the hotel’s kitchen area, said a spokesman for the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the province’s police force.

Police said it was not known how many people had been in the hotel, which is near the border with the Irish Republic. They said there were no injuries.

At short time earlier, police said a bomb exploded as three police officers were investigating a ringing burglar alarm at a gas station in Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh. A policewoman lost an eye, and two policemen suffered minor cuts to the face, the spokesman said.