The body that monitors paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland has warned that dissident republicans remain highly dangerous although they are not able to mount a substantial terrorist campaign.
In its 21st report, the Independent Monitoring Commission said that the recent violence by dissident republicans, while a challenge and test of the peace process, did not represent an unravelling of it.
Read the report in full
The report examines paramilitary activity in the six months before the recent murders of three members of the security forces.
However, it also commented on the impact of the killings on the political process in Northern Ireland.
The IMC report said the widespread and unified condemnation of the killings, which saw Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness standing shoulder to shoulder with PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde, had reinforced the political settlement in the region.
In relation to the Provisional IRA, the commission concluded that as an organisation it remained inactive and was committed to a political strategy, even though some of its members continue to indulge in criminal activity for their own ends.
It said it had found no evidence to support claims that Semtex explosives used by dissidents in recent attacks had been sourced from the Provisional IRA.
Regarding the main loyalist paramilitary groups - the UDA and UVF - the commission said there was a growing acknowledgement among their leaders that the decommissioning would have to be addressed.
