Basil McCrea said he expects more violence from dissident republicans Police have rejected a claim by a Policing Board member that dissident republicans have almost all of the capabilities of the Provisional IRA.
Ulster Unionist Basil McCrea said his analysis was based on intelligence information from the Policing Board.
However, police sources expressed “astonishment” at the claim.
They told the BBC the dissidents are “a long way off” having the capabilities of the PIRA.
Mr McCrea told Radio Ulster’s Stephen Nolan show that he expected more violence from dissident republican groups.
“The message coming out from me is to understand that there is a serious threat out there,” he said.
“They are about 97% at the moment in terms of capability and capacity and the only thing stopping them doing it is an extremely efficient PSNI operation in terms of disrupting serious crime and these people,” he said.
Mr McCrea said the information his analysis was based on was confidential but said the threat was “serious”.
A week ago a military hand grenade was used in an attack by dissidents on police officers in west Belfast.
The dissident paramilitary group Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH) said it was responsible for the attack.
The group has been responsible for a number of car bomb attacks on police stations and other targets in Northern Ireland this year.
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