A CAR-BOMB attack outside a police station on the outskirts of Belfast was intended to “kill officers and cause maximum harm,” Northern Ireland Policing Board chairman Brendan Mullan said today.

The blast happened after a delivery driver’s car was hijacked, fitted with a gas-cylinder device and he was forced to drive it to the police station.

Forensic officers were examining the burnt-out vehicle this morning in a side street beside the building in the town of Dunmurry. Nearby homes were evacuated and a cordon put in place.

Though there were no casualties, Mr Mullan noted that the police station was in the heart of a residential area. He added: “Those responsible had callous disregard for people living [nearby] who so easily could have been caught up in this explosion.”

Sinn Fein First Minister Michelle O’Neill said those behind the attack “speak for absolutely no-one.” She posted on social media: “They have no vision, no support and have nothing to offer our society.”

Last month, dissident republicans were blamed after an explosive device that police described as “crude but viable” was used in an attempted attack on Lurgan police station. The bomb failed to go off.