News

A suspected bomb exploded under a car in Northern Ireland on Friday, injuring one man, in the latest of increasingly frequent attacks in the province, police said.

"One male has been taken to hospital, his condition is not known at this time," police said in a statement.

The statement did not identify the man or the perpetrators.

Attacks, often directed at police officers, have increased since Republican splinter groups killed two soldiers and a policeman in March 2009.

The March deaths marked a low point since the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement largely ended three decades of conflict in which more than 3,600 people were killed.

The province''s executive run by Sinn Fein, which wants a united Ireland, and pro-British unionists, has also come under pressure due to a dispute over transferring policing powers from London and revelations about First Minister Peter Robinson''s family life.