Car bomb explodes outside N. Ireland shopping centre

BELFAST: A car bomb exploded Tuesday outside a shopping centre in Northern Ireland, causing substantial damage but no injuries amid an upsurge in violence aimed at destabilising the peace process, police said.

The blast occurred just after midnight outside a bank in Londonderry and follows a series of recent attacks blamed on dissident republicans seeking to undermine hard-won peace in the British province.

"Shortly after midnight (2300 GMT) a device in a Corsa car exploded outside a bank at the rear of the DaVinci retail complex" in the city, said a spokesman from the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

"A warning had been received just over an hour earlier and a cordon was in place.

"Initial inquiries suggest there were no injuries. Substantial damage has been caused to the retail complex and to the car."

Evacuations had been carried out in the surrounding area from dozens of houses and a number of businesses, said the spokesman, adding there would be severe disruption to traffic in the area early Tuesday.