Arrests during Lurgan searches
Four men have been arrested during a police search operation in Lurgan this morning (Wednesday, September 21).
A number of houses have been evacuated in the Woodville Avenue area of the town as part of an ongoing security operation aimed at dissident republicans.
A PSNI spokesperson said: “Police have conducted a number of searches at properties in the town this morning and four men have been arrested. Two are 22 years old, one is 24 and the fourth is 46.
“Three were arrested in Lurgan and the 46-year-old in Coalisland. They are being questioned at a Belfast police station.”
Sinn Fein have claimed the evacuation has followed the discovery of a suspect package but police have not confirmed this.
Catherine Seeley, local Sinn Fein MLA, has condemned the disruption caused by what she described as ‘a security alert in Lurgan’.
She said; “This security alert and house searches has brought nothing but disruption to the local community in north Lurgan.
“Residents in Woodville Drive have had to be evacuated from their homes while others have been forced to stay inside their homes rather than pass by the suspect device.
“This incident serves only to cause fear and disruption and achieves nothing.”