Belfast security alert continues after explosion outside Dunmurry police station

An explosion outside Dunmurry police station left roads sealed, homes evacuated and a security alert still under way on the Kingsway area on the outskirts of Belfast. Police said cordons were in place and members of the public were being told to avoid the scene as the evacuation operation continued.

The blast, which happened late on Saturday, turned a residential stretch of west Belfast into a live security scene and raised fresh questions about whether dissident militants still had the capability to strike police targets with planning and intent. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said it would issue an update in due course, while the continuing response underscored how quickly a single device near a station can become a wider public-safety issue for nearby families.

Brendan Mullan, chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, said the device was sent to "kill officers and cause maximum harm" and called it "a miracle no-one was seriously injured." He also said those responsible showed "callous disregard" for local residents living near the station. First Minister Michelle O’Neill condemned the attack and said those behind it "speak for absolutely no-one." She added that they had "no vision, no support, and have nothing to offer our society." Sinn Féin Assembly member Danny Baker urged residents and motorists to avoid the area and offered support to people living nearby.

The attack landed only weeks after another serious attempt on a PSNI station in Lurgan, County Armagh, on Monday 30 March 2026. In that case, a pizza delivery driver was hijacked at gunpoint and forced to drive a vehicle containing what police described as a "crude but viable" explosive device to the station. The PSNI said it was highly likely that attack was the work of dissident republicans.

Taken together, the two incidents point to a continuing and still volatile threat landscape. PSNI security situation statistics published in 2025 showed the force continued to record bombing and shooting incidents in Northern Ireland, a reminder that attacks on police stations are not treated as isolated local crimes but as tests of whether militant networks can still mount effective operations. For communities around Dunmurry, the immediate concern remained the cordon, the evacuation and the fear that a familiar street had once again become a site of serious political violence.