​​Police warn of potential dissidents attacks on police officers in Londonderry ahead of Joe Biden arrival in Northern Ireland

Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said the force has received “strong” intelligence that dissidents are planning to launch terror attacks against officers on the bank holiday.

MI5 had recently raised the terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely.

This followed the gun attack on senior detective John Caldwell in Co Tyrone, who has been left with life-changing injuries.

Police have blamed the New IRA for the attack.

“It’s going to be a really significant weekend for the PSNI,” Mr Singleton told a press conference in Belfast.

“There is also very strong community intelligence specifically coming forward in respect of Monday’s events in Derry/Londonderry and a real concern that there may be attempts to draw police in to serious public disorder and to use that then as a platform to launch terrorist attacks on police as well.

“So going into our operation that’s something that is very clearly right at the forefront of my mind, the minds of the commanders that will be delivering that and of course our officers as well.”

Easter Monday is the day dissident republicans traditionally mark the anniversary of the Easter Rising rebellion against British rule in 1916, with a parade set to take place in Londonderry.

Mr Singleton said while dissident republican intent to kill police officers remained the same, he said officers were concerned they may use public disorder in Londonderry as a platform to launch attacks.

“The intent remains the same. I think as I see it, it’s the risk, it’s the platform potentially, in particular, that public disorder may present,” he said.

“We don’t have to go too far back, sadly, to see precisely that kind of scenario playing out in Derry/Londonderry in the past.

“So that is absolutely something that’s in the mind of myself and the police commanders as we approach that event, and it will be something that we’ll have to keep under constant review depending on how things develop on the day.”

When asked about whether guns or explosives could be used to target police officers in Londonderry, Mr Singleton said: “We’ve seen that in the past and, on that basis, we have to be prepared for that and we will be prepared for all eventualities on Monday.”

PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd said there was no specific intelligence that the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement was acting as an additional motivation for dissident republicans to launch attacks.

“We plan for the worst and we hope for the best to be quite frank, we will respond to the intelligence as it develops, we have no such intelligence that would support that at the moment,” he said.

Speaking in Belfast, Irish deputy premier Micheal Martin commented: “An attack on the PSNI is an attack on all of us on this island.

"The police are essential to the security of our people and the PSNI, in my view, are doing a remarkable job under very challenging circumstances.”