Eleven arrests in Northern Ireland after shots fired at police officers Amherd defends peacekeeping missions before UN Security Council

Three months after a failed attack on a police officer in Northern Ireland by suspected members of the New IRA paramilitary group, investigators have arrested 11 people.

The nine men and two women, aged between 21 and 72, were arrested under anti-terror law in the towns of Omagh and Coalisland, police in the British part of the country said on Friday.

The victim was injured by several masked men in Omagh at the end of February after a football training session with children. The assassination attempt shortly before the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement caused great horror in Northern Ireland and far beyond. The man, whose own son witnessed the incident, was initially hospitalized in critical condition but later recovered. In the middle of the week he appeared at a garden party that King Charles III. and Queen Camilla received their stay at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland. According to reports, he was even given a private audience.

The New IRA is a coalition of splinter groups of the paramilitary IRA (Irish Republican Army), who fought through decades of civil war to unite Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. In the late 1990s, the IRA laid down its arms and peace was made in the Good Friday Agreement. But some militants remained active, including on the side of the Protestant supporters of the Union and Britain. The splinter groups are linked to organized crime. (oee/sda/dpa)