Police in Northern Ireland are launching a "high visibility" security operation amid heightened fears of a terrorist attack, authorities have confirmed, ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden touching down for a visit next week.
"Communities across Northern Ireland will see an increase in policing activity over the next few weeks as a high visibility policing operation gets underway to counter the continuing dissident threat," Police Service of Northern Ireland Assistant (PSNI) Chief Constable Bobby Singleton confirmed to Newsweek in a statement on Sunday.
President Biden is expected to land in Northern Ireland on Tuesday to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday accord.
Some police officers will move to 12-hour shift patterns, with vehicle checkpoints in Northern Ireland possibly causing "inconvenience" to residents and members of the public, ACC Singleton added.
In late March, Northern Ireland's terrorism threat level was raised to severe from substantial, which indicates that a terrorist attack is highly likely. The threat level is determined by MI5, the UK's counter-intelligence and security agency.
Alongside the changing of the threat level, Northern Ireland's police have "seen an escalation in the tempo of dissident organizations and some have clearly stated their intention to kill our officers and target their families," ACC Singleton said.
In February, Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell, an off-duty police officer, was shot in Omagh, County Tyrone.
"In recent months, we have seen an increase in levels of activity relating to Northern Ireland Related Terrorism, which has targeted police officers serving their communities and also put at risk the lives of children and other members of the public," UK Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said in a statement announcing the change to the terror threat level.
"These attacks have no support, as demonstrated by the reaction to the abhorrent attempted murder of DCI Caldwell," Heaton-Harris added.
The statement issued by PSNI was in response to a Newsweek query of reports of a "bomb plot," allegedly organized by the New IRA organization. On Sunday, the Belfast Telegraph reported that police had "uncovered a New IRA bomb plot aimed at eclipsing US President Joe Biden's visit to Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement."
The Good Friday Agreement was signed on April 10, 1998, to bring the period of violence known as the Troubles to an end. Decades of fighting between those who wanted Northern Ireland to be part of the Republic of Ireland, and those who wished to remain in the UK claimed thousands of lives.
President Biden is expected to give a speech at Ulster University during his visit during his first trip to Northern Ireland since becoming President. He will also meet with UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, before traveling south to the Republic of Ireland. He will visit Dublin, as well as other areas such as County Mayo and County Louth, from which President Biden's family hail.
"Our job is to keep communities, and the officers who serve them safe and we are taking every reasonable step to do so," ACC Singleton said. "We need the support of our communities to do this."
"I am asking for patience and support of communities as we work hard to keep us all safe," the police chief said.
Update 11:05 am ET 09/04/2023: This article was updated with additional information.
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