A policeman was shot and wounded last night when he was ambushed in heavy traffic in Northern Ireland — the second off-duty officer to be targeted by republican terrorists in five days.

The victim was hit as he sat in his car outside St Patrick’s Catholic Church in Dungannon, Co Tyrone. Just before the attack the Real IRA said in a statement that it had carried out the shooting last week of another officer in Londonderry.

The injured officer was shot several times but was able to drive away from the scene to Dungannon police station. He was taken to Craigavon Area Hospital, where his condition was described as serious.

A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokeswoman confirmed that the officer had been off-duty, suggesting that so-called dissident republicans are stepping up their intelligence-gathering operations.

The district commander, Michael Skuce, said that the attack was “cowardly and despicable”.

Last Thursday, Constable Jim Doherty, 43, was hit by a shotgun blast when he was ambushed as he drove along Bishop Street in Londonderry.

The Real IRA said in a statement that two of its members carried out the attack.

There have been fears of a renewed threat posed by republican terrorists in recent weeks opposed to political power-sharing involving Sinn Fein and Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party.

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