Second bomb attack on home

The area was cordoned off

The police are investigating a possible sectarian motive for the second pipe bomb attack on a Catholic home in County Antrim within a week.

The device, which was packed with nails, exploded outside the house in Lisburn, at about 0520 GMT on Wednesday.

No-one was injured in the attack, though the bomb caused minor damage to the garden of the house at the Knockmore Estate on the Moira Road.

Debris from the blast landed in a garden opposite the house, and also struck a car.

The explosion was reported to the police at about 0700 GMT.

The police said a similar device was thrown at the house on Saturday morning. They said they were looking at a number of possible motives for the attack.

Whatever the warped excuse for throwing or placing such a device, I condemn it without reservation

Seamus Close

The Alliance Party deputy leader said there could be no justification for the attack.

Seamus Close lives near the scene of the explosion and knows the family whose home was targeted.

He said: "Whatever the warped excuse for throwing or placing such a device, I condemn it without reservation.

"No reason can justify these thugs and gangsters trying to cause damage to individuals."

Since the beginning of this year there have been more than 30 pipe bomb attacks in towns across Northern Ireland.

Many have been blamed on the loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Defence Association.

However, loyalist sources have told the BBC that the UDA has denied responsibility for this latest attack.