Real IRA behind barracks murders
|
The Real IRA shot dead two British soldiers outside a barracks in Northern Ireland, it has been revealed.
The dissident Republican group, who killed 29 people in the 1998 Omagh bombing, claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call to the Sunday Tribune newspaper in Dublin.
Gunmen ambushed a group of soldiers who were just minutes away from leaving for Afghanistan while they were taking delivery of pizzas outside the Massereene Barracks in Antrim.
Two soldiers were shot dead and two others were badly wounded. Two delivery men were also hurt, one critically.
In a statement, the Sunday Tribune said a terrorist rang the paper and used a recognised code word to claim responsibility.
The statement said: 'The caller said he made no apologies for targeting British soldiers while they continued to occupy Ireland and also said he made no apologies for targeting the pizza delivery men who, he said, were collaborating with the British by servicing them.'
Northern Ireland's Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde, who has called in undercover soldiers to carry out surveillance operations in a bid to thwart a heightened threat against his officers from hardline Republicans, ruled out putting troops back on the streets.
Sir Hugh said: 'This was an act by a small group of increasingly desperate people who are determined to drag 99 per cent 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.
Mr Brown said: 'No murderer will be able to derail the peace process, that has the support of the vast majority of the people of Northern Ireland'
The province's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness. a former IRA leader, said: '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.'
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 and head for Helmand in the early hours of Sunday.
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.
The gunmen 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 seconds later as the four soldiers and the two delivery men - one of them Polish - lay wounded on the ground.
© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.
