A woman in Belfast, Northern Ireland, was injured Friday after a bomb planted under the car of a police officer exploded, authorities said.

The 38-year-old woman, a relative of the male police officer, was caught in the minor explosion outside the east Belfast home. Police said she suffered minor injuries and was quickly discharged from hospital.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast, but police and politicians blamed Irish Republican Army dissidents seeking to unravel Northern Ireland's peace process.

IRA dissidents have been targeting police officers in recent attacks, attaching bombs to their private cars or shooting at them while they are behind the wheel.

In March, the Continuity IRA splinter group shot a police officer to death in his patrol car, while the rival Real IRA faction killed two off-duty British soldiers at the entrance of an army base.

The dissidents are seeking to discourage Catholics from joining the police force in Northern Ireland, a British province with a Protestant majority.

With files from the Associated Press