by Adrian Mullan

A young off-duty Omagh policeman was the victim of a dissident bomb attack in Spamount on Monday evening and remains ill in hospital after suffering serious leg injuries.

The injured constable is Ryan Crozier, 27, originally from Omagh's Tamlaght Road area. A member of a highly respected family, he was targeted in an attack which has caused outrage and disgust across the entire community.

The attack happened at around 9.15pm as the young man drove along Drumnabey Road, in Spamount, Castlederg. It is believed a device was attached to his car and exploded a short time after he set off for work at Enniskillen PSNI station.

Two local men who where passing saw his car on fire and rushed to the scene to drag him from the blazing vehicle. At that point, they did not realise that the fire had been caused by an explosive device, and simply the car had caught fire due to a mechanical fault.

A third man who was passing called the fire brigade and an ambulance. A few moments after the stricken officer was removed from the car, writhing from the pain of his injuries.

The car was completely engulfed by fire.

PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde laid the blame for the attack at the door of republican dissidents. He said this was the latest incident in which off-duty police officers were being targeted when they were at their most vulnerable.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness appealed for anyone with information to assist the police.

His party colleague, Sinn Féin MP for West Tyrone Pat Doherty, also condemned the attack as outrageous.

"The elements within our society who perpetrated this act have nothing to offer; they are without mandate or strategy and represent no one," said Mr Doherty, who added that there was "no going back to the past".

However, he suggested that the dissidents were in the death throes; "They know they are in their end game and are desperately lashing out."

Throughout Tuesday the four roads meeting at the cross-roads at Drumnabey Road were closed to traffic as teams of forensics officers examined the scene. The burnt out car remains at the scene and police were approaching it with extreme caution, fearing the presence of a second device. Two heavy duty police bomb disposal units were rushed to the scene on Tuesday.

This is the third obvious attack on the lives of police officers within the past six month attacks at Dungannon and Derry saw officers, in both cases they survived and were able to summon help.

Officer Crozier injured in Monday evening's attack is conscious and alert having undergone surgery, and is keen to return to work.