Buried barrel filled with bombs is Northern Ireland’s ‘most significant arms find in years’

A “terrorist hide” discovered in Northern Ireland containing land mines, pipe-bombs and other weaponry is “one of the most significant seizures in recent years”, police in the British-ruled province said Tuesday.

The buried cache, which is believed to have been assembled by dissident republicans dedicated to creating a united Ireland by force, was discovered on Saturday evening by two people walking in Capanagh Forest near the port of Larne, around 50km north of Belfast.

In a statement Detective Superintendent Kevin Geddes of the Serious Crime Branch said the find had undoubtedly saved lives as a number of the devices were ready for deployment.

“The fact that an Explosively Formed Projectile was recovered which has an armour-piercing capability means that one of our main lines of enquiry will focus on dissident republican terrorists,” he said.

“All these components will now be subjected to rigorous forensic testing in an effort to provide additional lines of enquiry.”

The officer also said the force was investigating apparent similarities with another stash found nearby in 2015.