|
DUBLIN (AP) - Irish Republican Army dissidents are posing their greatest security threat in Northern Ireland since the province's peace accord 11 years ago — and are receiving help from a handful of IRA veterans in plotting gun and bomb attacks, an expert panel found Wednesday.
The Independent Monitoring Commission, which reports regularly on the underground activities of Northern Ireland's myriad paramilitary groups, said dissidents backed by a "small number" of mainstream IRA members are responsible for a surge in violence since March.
These include shooting to death two British soldiers and a policeman; several failed attempts to kill security-force members with bombs in vehicles and on roadsides; and shooting 20 people non-fatally in a campaign to deter civilians — particularly within the IRA's Catholic power bases — from cooperating with the security forces.
|