A SECURITY operation in west Belfast continued last night after a new dissident republican group claimed it had left a bomb in the area.
The alert, which began at around 1pm on Monday, continued for a second day as police searched for a device allegedly left by a group calling itself Arm na Poblachta.
People living in the Bell Steele and Pantridge roads in Poleglass were asked to evacuate their homes on Monday.
The security cordon was widened yesterday to include the Pembroke Loop and Brians Well roads, preventing hundreds of people from driving to and from their homes.
While several streets re-opened last night, a section of Pantridge Road remained closed.
A police spokeswoman said: "Progress towards bringing the incident to a close and enabling the local community to confidently and safely return to their lives continues".
Earlier, Superintendent Robert Murdie said: "It is clear that those responsible for this wish to instil fear, disrupt the community and attempt to detract officers from delivering the policing service the local community of west Belfast want and deserve".
"I would like to thank members of the local community for their continued support and patience," he said.
"Our primary aim throughout the course of this operation has been to keep the local community safe. We are committed to doing this by working with the community. I understand the security operation caused significant disruption to people in the area, but it was required in order to keep people safe."
SDLP west Belfast Councillor Brian Heading said people living in the area hoped the security alert would soon end.
"These people (dissidents) have no legitimacy, no credibility and aren’t wanted in our communities," he said.
"The people of Ireland have overwhelmingly rejected those who pursue a path of violence, terrorising their own communities in the process."
