DCC Leighton said he did not know how the plastic explosives ended up in the hands of dissident republicans.
"It is significant in the sense that there was Semtex in the explosive charge. It did not go off but there was Semtex there - where it came from I don't know," he said.
"It is similar to devices that used to be used in the province by other groups."
Fermanagh Ulster Unionist assembly member Tom Elliot said the Army should return to the streets to combat the dissident threat.
"We've had attempted murders in Londonderry and Dungannon and Spamount and now Lisnaskea.
"I'm not so sure with the reduction of police resources in the province and the removal of the Army that the PSNI have the resources at this present time to deal with this escalation, and if it's not nipped in the bud very quickly it will get worse.
"I think if the police don't have the resources themselves, they may need to bring the Army back in for a short period," he said.
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