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Soldiers murdered in Northern Ireland were on their way to Afghanistan
Sunday, 8 March 2009
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Two British soldiers shot dead outside a military barracks in Northern Ireland were wearing desert fatigues and just minutes away from leaving for Afghanistan, it was revealed today.
They were ambushed by terrorists firing automatic rifles as they were about to take delivery of pizzas before catching a flight to Helmand.
The ruthlessness of the shootings which rocked the peace process and shocked political representatives in Belfast, London and Dublin, left two other soldiers badly wounded. Two delivery men were also hit, one critically.
Security chiefs believe the gunmen were prepared to murder all six in front of the main gates of the Massereene Barracks at Antrim. At one stage the killers stood over their victims and fired a second volley.
Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde who had earlier called in undercover soldiers to carry out surveillance operations in a bid to thwart a heightening threat against his officers, ruled out putting troops back on the streets.
But the planning and execution of this double-murder after a series of failed attacks over the past two years will mean an immediate and urgent review of security measures.
There are an estimated 200-300 dissident republicans active in Northern Ireland, and even though no more than a dozen may have been directly involved, detectives believe the two masked gunmen who opened up before being driven off in a getaway car on Saturday night were clearly experienced in the use of high powered weaponry.
Sir Hugh said: "This was an act by an increasingly desperate small group of increasingly desperate people who are determined to drag 99% of this community back to where they don't want to go."
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen insisted the killings would not disrupt the peace process. However the Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and the deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness have delayed a planned visit to the United States which was due to end next Tuesday with a St Patrick's Day meeting with President Obama at the White House.
The names of the dead soldiers have been withheld until all their relatives have been informed. They were due to fly out of RAF Aldergrove, just a few miles away from their base in the early hours of today.
It departed with four empty seats, and even then the flight had to be held up until investigating police officers finished interviewing other soldiers who were near or close to the main gates at the time of the attack.
The gunmen were obviously aware that soldiers at the Massereene Barracks followed a regular routine on Saturday nights when as many as 20 separate orders were made for pizza to be delivered.
They waited until the troops, all dressed in desert fatigues, emerged through the gates to pick up the food. One burst of automatic fire was followed by another just seconds later as the four soldiers and the two delivery men - one of them was Polish - lay wounded on the ground.
All sides in Belfast denounced the attack, and even though Sinn Fein's condemnation stopped short of expressing sympathy for the soldiers and their families, Mr McGuinness, a former IRA leader in Londonderry, demanded the dissidents call off their campaign.
Chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board Professor Sir Desmond Rea said: "It is with horror and sorrow that I learned that two men have been killed and four others injured in the gun attack at Massereene Army base. On behalf of the Board I unequivocally condemn this vile attack and those who are responsible for it.
"Our thoughts are with the families of those killed and injured."
Martin McGuinness added: "I was a member of the IRA, but that war is over now. The people responsible for last night's incident are clearly signalling that they want to resume or re-start that war. Well, I deny their right to do that."
Mr McGuinness, MP for Mid-Ulster, told the BBC: "I will stand for all democrats against their attempts to plunge us back into conflict; to see soldiers on the streets; to see more checkpoints on the roads; to see houses being raided and to see people being dragged back to interrogation centres. Those days are over. They can never come back again."
The last soldier to be killed in Northern Ireland was in February 1997 - just over a year before the signing of the Good Friday peace agreement - when the IRA shot dead Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick, 23, in south Armagh.
That particular area as well as parts of Tyrone, Londonderry and especially south Fermanagh, is where the dissident threat is at its highest.
They came dangerously close to killing police officers in four separate gun and bomb attacks in Derry, Dungannon, Castlederg and Rosslea and last month a 300lb car bomb on its way to an army base at Ballykinler, near Newcastle, Co Down was abandoned in a hurry near a school.
But this shooting, according to authoritative security sources in Belfast, represented a "step change" by the terrorists belonging to the Real IRA and Continuity IRA, many of whom quit the Provisional IRA after becoming disillusioned with Sinn Fein's peace strategy. No organisation has claimed responsibility.
One security source said: "They would have been quite happy to have killed all six at Antrim. Civilians didn't matter, and that's a sign of just how desperate and determined they've become.
"As targets go, they didn't come much softer than this. They achieved their objective, but I wonder how much greater the impact on the public here (Northern Ireland) might have been had they been police officers rather than British soldiers?"
The chief of police in the Irish Republic, Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy whose officers are heavily involved in countering the dissident threat in border areas is to meet with Sir Hugh in Dublin on Thursday.
They spoke by telephone in the hours after the Antrim attack. Sir Hugh confirmed later he has no plans to bring troops back onto the streets as operational support for the police, or call up more military resources for undercover duties.
After the Real IRA bomb atrocity in Omagh in August 1998 which claimed the lives of 29 people, including a mother pregnant with twins, the dissidents more or less went to ground.
But in the last three years the level of activity has gradually picked up, even though virtually all of their attacks ended in failure or were foiled.
The republicans suspected of orchestrating the violence are effectively under round the clock surveillance, especially one based in south Armagh and another in Fermanagh.
There was no advance intelligence of any threat at the Massereene Barracks, one of the lesser known military installations in Northern Ireland where the Engineers Regiment had been based since last summer
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Comments
39 Comments
my heart and thoughts go out to the families of those innocent young men whos lives were taken by evil scum who deserve nothing less than to hang from a rope! i feel so utterly disgusted with this cowardly act and hope and pray those evil scum are brought to justice.
Posted by caroline | 09.03.09, 10:41 GMT
The RIRA are nothing more than a bunch of thugs. The people of NI want a life. Living under the rule of violence has emotionally destroy this society. Rid your communities of these thugs and take back your life.
Posted by Icm | 09.03.09, 03:50 GMT
JerryF: don't try and put any blame for the actions of republican dissidents on Hugh Orde. The army were not on the streets, there was no possibility of harrassment. The old republican chestnut of the 'presence of the british army in the North' as an excuse is not acceptable. It is because of these blood thirsty scum that the army may very well end up on the streets again. The RIRA recently abandoned a 300lb bomb near Castlewellan and we all know what the RIRA can do with bombs: another Omagh? These cowardly murderers may very well light the spark that ignites the cycle of violence again. Loyalists may feel that this unprovoked attack warrants retaliation especially as 2 unarmed delivery drivers were also targetted.
Contrary to what you think JerryF this is a democratic society: everyone has a vote. there is no excuse for this outrage. The republican leaders must be seen to speak out against this atrocity if they want to have any credibility in the peace process.
Posted by RobbyA | 09.03.09, 01:44 GMT
a sad saaaaad day for Northern Ireland and the peaceful future all right thinking people have been living and hoping for there over the last 10 years ! Gordon Brown / Sir Huge Orde, before these terrorist thugs or their cohorts murder anyone else , please rid Northern Ireland's society of them , quietly and effectively ....... who could possibly have anything against their removal FOR EVER ! In agreement with William , these dregs have given up their own human rights by choosing their evil and destructive course of murder & terror , rid the normal NI population of them , A.S.A.P.
Posted by bewildered & sad ex Belfast Boy | 08.03.09, 21:53 GMT
To JerryF - This was an Engineer Regiment that was attacked. The reason they are here is to remove military installations and return the country to the way it is - not as law enforcers as you wrongly have stated. Sympathies to the families and colleagues of the soldiers killed. Hopefully the 'Law Enforcers' catch up and deal with the perperators without any political interference from some of the more undesirable members of the Policing Board. Ubique.
Posted by William | 08.03.09, 20:59 GMT
We dont want to go back to the way this country used to be, Only the scumbags are keeping this stupid thing going. We are at peace now and we dont want it to change. Sympathies to all the families involved
Posted by Eibhilin | 08.03.09, 16:41 GMT
I hope when these scumbags are caught that we have proper justice and they aren't allowed to hide behind the same reasons that previous murdering scum were able to do - political causes. No early release - put them inside for life as jailed murderers not any other title. Make life mean life!
Posted by Geoff | 08.03.09, 16:32 GMT
In Fairness, Martin Maguinness has outright condemed this atrocity on RTE in no uncertain terms. I think cool heads are required on all sides. The most important this is to let the police do their Job in bringing the scum to justice.
Posted by Adrian - Dublin | 08.03.09, 16:29 GMT
my band played about half an hour away from this attack, and i know one of the people that were attacked by these savages.
people need to grow up and stop resorting to Mesolithic methods such as violence and fighting just to prove your a big bad wolf
my families have always told me what the bad days of northern ireland were like, but i have a feeling that i may experience it for myself.
this, i am not looking forward to
Posted by brandon newey | 08.03.09, 16:13 GMT
sympathy to the families invloved. These murdering scumbags should swing from the end of a rope. Shame on SF, their silence is deafening!!
Posted by a soldiers mum | 08.03.09, 15:33 GMT
The war is over??????
It is only over when it suits people. Now we have the cold blodded murder of two young men cut down in their prime.
It makes me laugh when we see the likes of Maskey (Sinn Fein), and Attwood (SDLP) crying that they were not informed about the used of extra troops on the streets of Ulster, and now there are two young men murdered not a word, the silence in deafening.
Let the police and who ever else is needed to complete the job and rid the streets of Ulster of this murdering scum.
Posted by Jonty | 08.03.09, 15:17 GMT
absolutely ridiculous.
Posted by steve | 08.03.09, 14:46 GMT
For the past 13 years, I have had the pleasure to be a courier in the Republic and the North. I have seen the Troubles and hopefully witnessed the emerging peace. What is happening? Enough is enough. Adams, Paisley, their supporters and both governments MUST declare these hoodlums as being criminals and root them out by helping the PSNI investigate, identify, and arrest them. This is and organized crime situation; loyalist and nationalist. Get them off the streets for the good honest law abiding people of Ireland.
Posted by James J. Martin | 08.03.09, 14:42 GMT
I can't believe this could possibly happen once again in your beautiful vibrant city. I am a Canadian who loves Northern Ireland. Why on earth would anyone want to do such a thing? It must be unsettling for a certain sick few, to see a happy safe population. Unbelievable. My sincere sympathy to the families of those wonderful soldiers, and best wished to the wounded.
Posted by Lynda | 08.03.09, 14:38 GMT
Those in power need to keep cool heads,and make every effort to show a combined desire to bring the killers to justice. Forget the rhetoric about a united Ireland by peaceful means,or the opposite equally inflamatory statements. It was noted that the Sinn Fein statement made by Mr. Adams made no reference to those men who were murdered,and those who were wounded. A few words of sympathy would not have gone amiss. I hope that this may be the last such incident,and that peace will be with the people of N. Ireland for many years to come. ( Expat)
Posted by RMS | 08.03.09, 14:32 GMT
Hunt them down and slaughter them like the animals they are.
Posted by James | 08.03.09, 14:16 GMT
Dissident republicans with their idealism offer only death, destruction misery and grief for everyone including themselves and their own communities.
Posted by T J McClean | 08.03.09, 13:57 GMT
Certainly Hugh Orde bears some responsibility for this action. The presence of British soldiers in the north of Ireland is a provocation in the eyes of some people. A law enforcement problem must be handled by law enforcement officers in a democratic country. The use of the military in a situation like this is the surest sign of a dictatorship.
Posted by JerryF | 08.03.09, 12:57 GMT
The murdering scumbags are back, the powers that be know who they are. They should be taken out by ANY means available. To hell with their human rights, no public enquiries, no mercy.
Posted by William | 08.03.09, 12:53 GMT
Why has there been no comment from Sinn Fein about this attack?
I'm aftraid those who want to see a united Ireland need to remember that in these days of financial woes, Eire is almost bankrupt, and can hardly support its own residents, never mind all those thousands in the North who claim benefits of one kind or another from the UK government and who would be looking for the same support from the Irish government. A very sad state of affairs, I thought I had seen the last of such attacks. Surely its time to move on and stop dredging up the past.
Posted by G McVee | 08.03.09, 12:05 GMT
39 Comments