A suspected under-car booby trap bomb has been found during an alert in north Belfast. It was found at Linden Gardens, off the Cliftonville Road, on Thursday.
Police said the device was viable. Residents returned to their homes late on Thursday, but a security presence remained in the area overnight.
Det Ch Insp Richard Campbell said: "At this stage police believe that this could have been an under-car booby trap which was designed to kill or maim."
Army bomb experts carried out a controlled explosion on the device and it has been removed. People were moved from their homes for several hours while police examined the area
At the scene
There's a sense of anger among residents. This area is close to two primary schools, and lots of families live nearby. It was a viable device and the consequences could have been very different
As people getting ready for work and school begin to leave their homes, there's still a heavy police presence in the area.
Det Ch Insp Campbell said: "Those responsible have no qualms about putting people's lives at risk and causing disruption to the community.
"There is no doubt that this device had the potential to cause serious injury or death." The alert began about lunchtime on Thursday.
SDLP North Belfast assembly member Alban Maginness said it was a targeted device that "represents a very serious situation in terms of security in this part of Belfast".
"People are rightly angered by this - that annoyance was deep and severe for many families living in this area," he said. Liam Matthews, who lives in the area, said his family had been "very inconvenienced".
"The kids are at school, my wife had to pick them up, they've got a lot of homework to do. My oldest girl's in her GCSE year, she's got a few exams coming up, so it's very important that that's not interrupted," he said.
"I'm a bit annoyed just by the fact that we were kept out of the house."
