Car bomb explodes outside N Ireland court house

LONDON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A car bomb exploded outside a Northern Ireland court house late on Monday with no immediate report of casualties, police have confirmed.

A police spokesperson said that the car bomb had exploded as police officers were evacuating people from the area after they had been warned of a motor vehicle being left outside the building at Newry.

No organization has so far claimed responsibility for the blast.

Though most members of the Irish Republican Army renounced violence and disarmed in 2005, there have been attacks targeting police in the area since March 2009, according to police sources.