THE PSNI HAS confirmed that a man knocked down by a lorry in south Armagh yesterday afternoon was an on-duty police officer.

The incident on the Mullaghduff Road in Cullyhanna, near Newry, is being treated as a case of attempted murder, police said.

The police officer was seriously injured after being struck as he carried out inquiries into the theft of a supermarket ATM.

PSNI superintendent Simon Walls said the collision happened after the officer exited a police vehicle to speak to the driver of a suspicious lorry transporting a car.

The lorry was driven at speed directly at him, striking him and pinning him between the lorry and a police patrol vehicle before driving away, Walls said.

The officer was given emergency first aid by colleagues and transported to hospital in Belfast, where is undergoing medical assessment for injuries that are not thought to be life threatening.

“I am sure the local community in south Armagh will join us in condemning this callous incident and in wishing him a speedy and complete recovery,” the PSNI said in a statement.

Police appealed for anyone with information about the lorry – a low loader with a white cab, yellow bumper and red low loader body, carrying a white or silver vehicle – to contact them.

Read: Monaghan gardaí recover ATM stolen from Newry supermarket

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