(Reuters) - Northern Ireland police said on Friday two men were shot in ‘paramilitary style attacks’ at about 8 p.m. in two locations in the Ballymagroarty area of Londonderry.

"Innocent residents shouldn't have to worry about criminal thugs shooting people outside their homes," the police department said in a tweet. (bit.ly/2G3mIol)

On Jan. 19, a car bomb detonated outside a courthouse in Londonderry. No one was injured in the blast, which was later claimed by a group calling itself the “IRA”.

The incident highlighted the threat still posed by militant groups opposed to a 1998 peace deal that largely ended three decades of violence in the British-run province.