An attempted murder investigation is continuing after police called to check a suspected Improvised Explosive Device on a Northern Ireland railway line were attacked by gunmen.

Suspected dissidents were lying in wait near the track between Killeen and Meigh. They opened fire as officers examined the scene although nobody was injured.

A spokeswoman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed to PoliceOracle.com that those responsible for the attack are still being hunted. She added: “The dissident threat here is the highest it has been here for some time.”

The spokeswoman said police officers had been called to the scene at Newry, County Down, where suspect devices had been spotted on the railway on March 20. The line was closed while the potential IEDs were examined by specialists, although the bomb alert was later found to have been a hoax.

Area Commander Ch Insp Sam Cordner branded those responsible for causing the disruption and carrying out the attack on police as “terrorist criminals”.

He said: “Clearly the placing of these items on the railway line was a deliberate act to terrorise the local community and disrupt cross-border travel.

“I am also conducting an investigation into the attempted murder of police officers.”

Supt Alisdair Robinson, District Commander of C District, shared the sentiments. He said: “The people who carry out these senseless acts are not part of the society within which the majority of the people of Northern Ireland wish to live.”

Newry has already been a flashpoint for dissident Republican activity this year. In February a 250lb car bomb was detonated near the town’s courthouse.