In Ireland, Militants Take Advantage of Intelligence Gap

British army experts defused two explosive devices April 28 in the Northern Ireland towns of Newry and Belfast. The first device discovered was a 270-kilogram (600-pound) explosive in an abandoned van on a road near Newry, which police found April 26 after a report from a passing motorist. The explosive device discovered April 27 in a car in Belfast was smaller. Police defused both devices April 28 and were concerned that the Newry device could have been part of an ambush. Newry's police commander said the device in the van was fully assembled and viable and estimated that anyone within a 50-meter (164-foot) radius would have been killed, had it detonated.

The discovery of the devices indicates that Irish militants are able to complete the terrorist attack cycle without police knowledge. This highlights a significant intelligence gap on the part of authorities in Northern Ireland at a sensitive time, just before the 2012 Olympics are to be held in London.