Police in Northern Ireland on Wednesday said they arrested nine people on charges of terrorism following raids on suspected members of a splinter group of the former Irish Republican Army (IRA).
Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) said seven men and two women were detained after an operation that included searches of six properties in the Republic of Ireland by Irish police.
According to PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Barbara Gray, I can confirm that nine people have been arrested Tuesday under the Terrorism Act in connection with an ongoing investigation into the activities of the New IRA.
Gray said the nine suspects were aged between 26 and 50 years and were being questioned in Belfast on suspicion of a wide range of terrorist activity.
Northern Ireland was raven by sectarian conflict for decades, as Catholic nationalists sought a united Ireland while Protestant Unionists fought to remain in the UK.
Following a peace process that led to power sharing in the territory, the Provisional IRA officially ended its campaign of violence in 2005.
However, the New IRA and other splinter groups had since opposed the peace process and continue terrorist activities.
