A 43-YEAR-OLD MAN has been charged in Derry for possession of firearms and explosives in as part of an ongoing terrorism investigation in Derry.

Last week, officers with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) seized weapons and cash during a policing operation in the city as youths threw stones and petrol bombs at police.

Among the weapons seized last Thursday were two Military hand grenades, two handgun, over 50 rounds of ammunition and over a kilogram of plastic explosives.

Multiple arrests have been made in connection to the ongoing investigation, which is being led by Police Service’s Terrorism Investigation Unit.

On Monday, two people, one 26-year-old woman and one 48-year-old man, were charged with offences for possession of firearms and explosives. Tonight, PSNI said that a third man, aged 43, has been charged.

The man had been taken into custody on Saturday. He is due to appear before Londonderry Magistrates Court tomorrow. 

Separately, two men who were in custody in relation to the investigation, aged 22 and 41 respectively, were both released from police custody on Monday. A 50-year-old woman was also release on Sunday by PSNI.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan said last Friday that, while investigators are keeping an open mind, the primary line of enquiry during the investigation centres on the New IRA.

Speaking on the weapon seizures last week, McEwan said: “Not only was the intention here to kill and maim, but there is a total disregard for the wider community.”

“These items were being stored in a residential area in close proximity to a children’s play area and any attack that would have been mounted would have taken place within our communities,” he added.