A civilian police worker in Northern Ireland escaped injury this morning when a booby trap bomb fell off his car in Co Tyrone.
The apparent murder attempt by dissident republicans in Cookstown is the third such attack in a week.
It is understood the man, who is in his late 50s, was driving his car along Sweep Road at around 8am when the suspect item fell off, prompting a major security alert.
Around 100 houses, a local creche and a number of businesses were evacuated.
Last week, viable devices planted under the cars of a British army major and a policewoman in separate incidents in Co Down also failed to explode.
In another attack last Tuesday, a 200lb bomb left in a hijacked taxi detonated outside a police station in Derry, causing substantial damage but no injuries.
Political leaders in Northern Ireland have condemned the Cookstown attack as senseless and cowardly.
First Minister Peter Robinson said those behind the recent bombs sought to take the community back to the past and were attempting to bring death and destruction back onto the streets.
Thankfully they had failed once again but their evil intent must be condemned in the strongest possible terms, he said.
Mr Robinson said as an administration that enjoyed the support of all sections of the community, they would remain steadfast in their determination not to be deterred or deviate from their course.
He appealed to anyone who could assist the police in their effort to bring those responsible to justice to do so.
Deputy First Minster Martin McGuinness said the Cookstown incident, like other recent attacks in Derry, Bangor and Kilkeel, did nothing to further any cause.
They were not just an attack on the individuals concerned but on a society that had made it clear that the road forward is one which had no place for violence in any form, he said.
Mr McGuinness said there was no support for the action of these people.
He said the complete lack of any sort of mandate for mindless attacks, such as those carried out in recent days, was in stark contrast to the overwhelming public support that existed for the institutions which he and Mr Robinson led.
