Family escapes gun attack

A window was broken as the men tried to get inside the house

A couple and two young children have escaped injury in a gun attack in County Tyrone.

The incident happened at a house at Linkside Close, in the nationalist Ballycolman estate in Strabane, at about 2330 BST on Wednesday.

The police have not yet established a motive for the shooting but do not think it was sectarian. Paramilitary involvement has not been ruled out.

At least two masked men tried to get through the back door of the house and broke a window.

When the woman and her partner, who are both in their 30s, looked out from upstairs the men fired a shot into the air.

They then fled across a field, firing another shot as they left.

The woman's two daughters, aged five and three, were in bed at the time.

Inspector Alec Brown: "Family left very distressed"

Police Inspector Alec Brown said the family was left badly shaken and called on community leaders to try to stop such attacks.

"The couple were very distressed about this whole incident," he said.

"I have no doubt there's people operating in the Ballycolman area who know exactly who these people are."

Meanwhile, a petrol bomb has been thrown at a house in Lurgan, County Armagh.

No-one was injured in the attack in the Corban Street area of the town at about 0120 BST on Wednesday.

The petrol bomb went out before any damage was caused.

A man wearing a hooded top was seen running from the scene at the time of the attack.