2001 Birmingham bombing was the partial detonation of a car bomb in the city centre of Birmingham on Saturday 3 November 2001 . The Real Irish Republican Army ( RIRA ) , a dissident Irish Republican terror group , was responsible . The RIRA gave a telephone warning before the device exploded on Smallbrook Queensway , near New Street station - just from the location of the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974 . The bomb was similar in size to those used in the BBC bombing and Ealing bombing that year , but only the detonator exploded , leaving of home-made explosives intact . An officer from the West Midlands Police said the bomb , if fully detonated , could have caused a " very serious loss of life " on the busy road . It was the final bombing of the Troubles in Great Britain
Birmingham pub bombings
Birmingham pub bombings
2001 Birmingham bombing