A BOMB alert targetting the Tyrone County War Memorial in Omagh which disrupted a Remembrance Day commemoration has been denounced as "an act of particular hatred" carried out by "cowards".
A viable pipe bomb was discovered close to the memorial before a parade took place, police have confirmed.
The march was diverted and the traditional wreath-laying at the cenotaph was postponed after the area was sealed off following the discovery of the device on Sunday.
It comes almost two decades after a dissident republican Real IRA blast killed 29 in the busy market town in 1998.
The memorial sits at Drumragh Avenue's junction with Bridge Street. The rest of the Remembrance Sunday service was able to go ahead.
PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton described it as "a sickening and appalling act".
"This small but potentially dangerous device was left to cause the maximum amount of disruption to the Remembrance Sunday commemorations," he said.
"This is the action of a small and callous group of violent people who have nothing to offer our communities other than fear and intimidation.
"Whilst our investigation into the incident is at a very early stage, one strong line of inquiry is that violent dissident republicans are responsible. Their actions have demonstrated the disregard and disrespect they have for this community, which has already suffered so much pain and hurt at the hands of terrorists."
West Tyrone DUP assembly member Tom Buchanan, who was attending the town's events said it was "disgusting that anyone would target a war memorial at any time, but on Remembrance Sunday it is an act of particular hatred".
Sinn Féin MP Barry McElduff, who visited the scene, said wanted "to assert the right of everyone to remember their dead without any disruption and to remember their dead with dignity and respect".
"I'm an Irish republican and expect to be able to honour our dead at Easter, those who wish to be able to remember the British army dead in world wars need to be able to do that."
SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan condemned those responsible.
“We must all unite in our condemnation. People must have the right to remember their dead and all of us must respect that," he said.
The bomb alert also came exactly 30 years after 12 people were killed by an IRA bomb in Enniskillen in Co Fermanagh.
DUP leader Arlene Foster tweeted: "On a day we remember the carnage of Enniskillen 30 years ago it is disgusting that Remembrance Sunday in Omagh was disrupted by those who left a suspicious device in the town."
Detectives are appealing to anyone who was in the Drumragh Road area on Saturday night, 11th November, and saw any suspicious activity to contact them.
Detective Inspector Trevor Stevenson said: “We know this area of Omagh is popular on a Saturday night. We are appealing to any drivers who were in the area on Saturday night and have Dash Cam footage, to examine it and see if they have captured any suspicious activity.
"No matter how small you think it may be, if you think it looks suspicious - or out of the ordinary - please notify police immediately because it could prove significant."
