7 October 1999 Edition
Loyalists murder bid claim
The loyalist Red Hand Defenders group is claiming that it attacked a Catholic taxi driver when they threw a pipe bomb at his car on Monday night, 4 October. The bomb, which failed to explode, was reported to have been thrown in the Boyd Street area, which is located off the Lower Shankill Road at Peter's Hill.
Little else is known about the attack and the RUC, who sealed the area off to carry out a follow up operation, say they found nothing in the area. The RHD claimed the attack in a coded message to a Belfast radio station.
``While a lot of mystery surrounds this incident, said Sinn Féin councillor Gerard Brophy, ``it is the first claim of an attack such as this in a while and I would call on nationalists to be vigilant as these loyalists may be about to increase their activities.
Little else is known about the attack and the RUC, who sealed the area off to carry out a follow up operation, say they found nothing in the area. The RHD claimed the attack in a coded message to a Belfast radio station.
``While a lot of mystery surrounds this incident, said Sinn Féin councillor Gerard Brophy, ``it is the first claim of an attack such as this in a while and I would call on nationalists to be vigilant as these loyalists may be about to increase their activities.
