Unionists Set Off Bomb Near Sinn Fein Office
A car bomb exploded Sunday evening outside an office belonging to Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, in the Roman Catholic Falls Road area of Belfast, and a Protestant extremist group took responsibility.
Police said no one was injured in the explosion, which could be heard across town and which blew out nearby windows.
The outlawed Protestant extremist Ulster Volunteer Force said it was responsible for the blast.
Sinn Fein denounced the bombing as an attempt to provoke the IRA into breaking a cease-fire announced last week.
It was the first bomb attack since Irish Republican Army guerrillas, campaigning to oust Britain from Northern Ireland, announced the cease-fire Wednesday.
On Thursday, another outlawed Protestant group, the Ulster Freedom Fighters, shot a Catholic man to death.
Police say both groups are stepping up attacks and could be targeting Catholics to assure supporters they will not endorse any British government concessions to the IRA.
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