Five men were arrested today by detectives investigating the murder of a policeman who was blown up by dissident republicans in Northern Ireland earlier this year.

They were detained in a major security operation involving up to 200 officers.

Constable Ronan Kerr, 25, a Catholic member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, was killed when a booby-trap bomb exploded under his car outside his home in Beragh, Omagh, Co Tyrone, on April 2.

Police confirmed today that five men had been detained in connection with the murder and associated incidents.