Fury over new north terrorist attacks

Disident Republicans are the chief suspects in the murder of a policeman in Craigavon, Co. Armagh, 48 hours after two unarmed British soldiers were shot dead as they accepted a pizza delivery at Massereene barracks near Antrim on Saturday night.

Two other soldiers and two civilian pizza delivery men — one a Pole aged in his thirties — were injured in the barracks attack for which responsibility was admitted by the Real IRA, whose members carried out the 1998 Omagh bombing in which 29 people were massacred.

Making matters even worse in the North, on Monday evening a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) constable was shot and killed on Monday in Craigavon, Co. Armagh.

The Continuity IRA, an even smaller splinter Republican movement than the Real IRA, claimed responsibility for the attack.

“As long as there is British involvement in Ireland, these attacks will continue,” a coded message from the group said.

A 17-year-old and a 37-year-old were arrested on Tuesday and was being questioned by police in connection with that attack.

The cop, Constable Stephen Carroll, who was answering a call from what PSNI chief Sir Hugh Orde called “a vulnerable person”— a woman who said a brick had been thrown through her window — was shot dead in a mainly Catholic estate in the Lismore Manor area of Craigavon.

Carroll, a 48-year-old with three grandchildren, was two years from retirement. He was the first member of the PSNI to be killed by a terrorist since the force was established eight years ago, taking over from the RUC.

Fury over the murders of the soldiers was widespread, with Sinn Fein joining in the condemnation. Party leader Gerry Adams described the killings as “wrong and counter-productive.” He said there should be an end to “actions” like the one on Antrim and added, “The popular will is for peaceful and democratic change. Sinn Fein has a responsibility to be consistent. The logic of this is that we support the police in the apprehension of those responsible.”

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Nster.com