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Who are republican group Arm na Poblachta?

Police carry out searches in Poleglass in west Belfast in 2017 after Arm na Poblachta claimed it had left a bomb in the area
Police carry out searches in Poleglass in west Belfast in 2017 after Arm na Poblachta claimed it had left a bomb in the area

Republican group Arm na Poblachta (ANP) is understood to include former members of other paramilitary organisations including the Continuity IRA and Óglaigh na hÉireann.

It emerged in 2017 and has pockets of support in Derry, Tyrone, Armagh and Belfast.

In November 2017 it claimed responsibility for leaving an EFP (Explosively Formed Projectile) in Poleglass on the outskirts of west Belfast.

The armour-piercing horizontal device was discovered after a three-day security operation carried out in the area.

It was also linked by the PSNI to the killing of Raymond Johnston (28) in the Poleglass area of west Belfast in February 2018.

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In May that year police linked an explosives find in the Benburb area of Co Tyrone to the group, while a paramilitary-style attack in west Belfast was also attributed to it.

In 2021 it claimed to have left a roadside device in the ‘Ballyarnett Road’ area of Derry.

Last year it also claimed that it left an IED outside Dungiven, Co Derry and another near Derry city.

Widespread disruption was caused in November last year when a hijacked delivery driver was forced to drive a bomb to a PSNI station in the Waterside area of Derry.

READ MORE: Dissident republican group branded ‘despicable' over threats to police families