6th January – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

6^th January

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Sunday 6 January 1980

Three members of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) where killed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in a land mine attack near Castlewellan, County Down.

[These deaths brought the ‘official’ death toll, as compiled by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), to over 2,000. RUC figures do not count those killed outside of Northern Ireland.]

Thursday 6 January 1994

The Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), injured a Catholic man (21) in a gun attack in west Belfast.

Monday 6 January 1997

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out a ‘rocket’ attack at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast injuring a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer in the leg.

A man was shot in the leg in a ‘punishment’ attack in West Belfast.

[It was claimed by some people that this shooting was carried out by the Official IRA.]

Tuesday 6 January 1998

A large car bomb was defused in the centre of Banbridge, County Down.

[The bomb, estimated at 500 pounds, was planted by the Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA).]

A Catholic man was shot and injured in the Meadows Tavern bar, Boucher Road, Belfast. It was believed that he had been shot by Direct Action Against Drugs (DAAD) which is considered to be a cover name (pseudonym) for the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Wednesday 6 January 1999

A man was injured in Magherafelt, County Derry, in a blast-bomb attack carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries.

A man was injured in a Loyalist gun attack in Bangor, County Down. The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) argued over the implementation of the pre-Christmas arrangement on government departments and North-South bodies. The UUP wanted the Northern Ireland Assembly to “take note” of the agreement, whereas the SDLP wanted the two parties to approve and accept it.

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) published a New Year Message in ‘An Phoblacht / Republican News’ in which they said that the Good Friday Agreement had failed to deliver meaningful change and that Unionists were pursuing conditions that had contributed to the breakdown of the 1994 ceasefire.

[Unionists regarded the statement as a threat by the IRA to end its ceasefire.]

Thursday 6 January 2000

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued a new year statement in An Phoblact / Republican News. The statement warned that any move on decommissioning would depend on a dramatic reduction in the British military presence in Northern Ireland.

Saturday 6 January 2001

The body of George Legge (37), a former senior member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), was found dumped in a field at Clontonacally Road in Carryduff, County Antrim. Police said that he had been badly beaten before being stabbed to death.

[It was believed that the UDA was responsible for the killing which was part of an internal UDA dispute. There was media speculation that Legge had been involved in drugs and had fallen out of favour with the UDA. He had been drinking in a public house, the ‘Bunch of Grapes’ in east Belfast, and it is thought that he was first attacked there. There was a malicious fire at the rear of the pub shortly after the discovery of Legge’s body. The Irish Times (a Dublin based newspaper) reported that Legge had been decapitated.]

Sunday 6 January 2002

Loyalist paramilitaries carried out a pipe-bomb attack on the home of a prison officer in Westway Park, Ballygomartin, Belfast, at approximately 10.00pm (2200GMT). The officer’s wife and four year old daughter needed hospital treatment for shrapnel wounds, cuts, and shock. The bomb had been thrown through the living room window of the house. The Red Hand Defenders (RHD) said it was responsible for the attack.

[The RHD is a cover name that has been used in the past by members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF).] The RHD said the attack was in response to alleged harassment of Loyalist prisoners including Johnny Adair and Gary Smyth in Magheraberry jail, County Antrim.

 

 

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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles

Today is the anniversary of the death of the following  people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die

– Thomas Campbell

To the innocent on the list – Your memory will live  forever

– To  the Paramilitaries  –

There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.

6 People   lost their lives on the 6th January  between  1980 – 2001

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06 January 1980

Robert Smyth,   (18)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) mobile patrol, Burren Bridge, near Castlewellan, County Down.

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06 January 1980

James Cochrane,  (21)

Catholic
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) mobile patrol, Burren Bridge, near Castlewellan, County Down.

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06 January 1980
Richard Wilson,   (21)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) mobile patrol, Burren Bridge, near Castlewellan, County Down.

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06 January 1983

Eric Brown,   (41)

Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while sitting in stationary Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) civilian-type car, Bridge street, Rostrevor, County Down.

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06 January 1983

Brian Quinn,  (23)

Catholic
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while sitting in stationary Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) civilian-type car, Bridge street, Rostrevor, County Down.

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06 January 2001

George Legge,   (37)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),

Killed by: Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
Found beaten and stabbed to death, off Clontonacally Road, near Carryduff, County Down. Internal Ulster Defence Association (UDA) dispute.

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ISIS Militants Strap Bomb on 4 Year-Old Boy and Blow Him Up

ISIS Militants Strap Bomb on 4 Year-Old Boy and Blow Him Up after Killing the Child’s Father

 

ISIS strapped a bomb to a four year-old child and blew him up a week after executing the boy’s father in the Al-Shirqat district.

In yet another heinous crime committed by the ISIS terror organization, the group has blown up a four-year-old child just one week after executing the child’s father.

Speaking to Alsumaria News, a senior official in the Iraqi national organization the Popular Mobilization Forces, Jabar el-Maamouri, said ISIS exploded “a bomb that was attached to a four-year-old child through a remote-controlled device so that his organs would be blown apart. ISIS executed the boy’s father a week ago who they accused of participating in an attack on one their outposts a month ago that killed two ISIS gunmen.”

The killings took place in the Al-Shirqat district north of Salah ad Din province.

El-Maamouri called human rights organizations to “document the crimes of ISIS and to publicize the incident to the international community to condemn its funders and supporters with money and words.”

ISIS has controlled the Al-Shirqat district since June, 2014. The area is considered to be one of the organization’s strongholds.

Elsewhere in Iraq, a local source in Nineveh province who asked to remain anonymous told Alsumaria News that the ISIS wiped out a village after its residents rebelled against the group.

“ISIS executed dozens of civilians including old people, women and children in the village of Al-Choud in area of Al-Keraya (85 kilometers south of Nineveh),” he said. a week after executing the boys father.

 

 

Siddhartha Dhar – Who is he?

Siddhartha Dhar, also known as Abu Rumaysah, is thought to be the new man behind the mask fronting threats to the UK from inside Syria.

Child in Isil video has now been identified as Isa Dare, the son of Grace Dare a Jihadi bride from Lewisham

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Unlike the man he appears to have replaced – Briton Mohammed Emwazi, dubbed “Jihadi John” – Mr Rumaysah was a well-known and prolific figure among radical Islamists in London.

He disappeared in September 2014, shortly after being released on bail while under investigation for allegedly encouraging terrorism.

Police banned him from travelling and ordered him to hand in his passport. However, he boarded a coach for Paris at London’s Victoria Station, along with his wife and children.

Weeks later, he announced his arrival in Syria by posting an image online of himself holding a rifle, and his newborn and fourth child.

 

“What a shoddy security system Britain must have to allow me to breeze through Europe to [IS],” he tweeted.

Mr Rumaysah, who is in his early 30s, was born and raised in the UK in a Hindu family – his original name is Siddhartha Dhar.

Following his conversion, he became a leading member and speaker for the al-Muhajiroun network, a group banned under terrorism legislation.

He would regularly attend demonstrations against the US, Israel, Arab regimes or any other cause the group believed to be un-Islamic.

He would stand outside mosques on Friday afternoons, seeking to find new followers to the radical network’s way of thinking. He would post videos online and rarely turned down an opportunity to speak to the media.

And when he spoke he barely hid his radical views.

When so-called Islamic State claimed to have destroyed the border between Iraq and Syria in 2014, he believed it was the moment a new Islamic regime worthy of global support had been born.

“The caliphate [a state governed in accordance with Islamic law, or Sharia] is a dream for all Muslims worldwide,” he said in one of his YouTube videos.

“We can finally have a sanctuary where we can practice our religion and live under the Sharia. It is a big, big thing.”

In an appearance on the BBC’s Sunday Morning Live programme, he expanded on these views.

“Now that we have this caliphate I think you’ll see many Muslims globally seeing it as an opportunity for the Koran to be realised,” he said.

“As a Muslim I would like to see the UK governed by the Sharia. It is far superior to democracy. I don’t really identify myself with British values. I am Muslim first, second and last.”

‘Travel guide’

In 2014, Mr Rumaysah was asked by a TV journalist whether he would condemn the killing of US journalist James Foley by IS.

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‘Save Steven Sotloff’ by Abu Rumaysah on Channel 4

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He refused to answer the question – saying only that he condemned US airstrikes killing Muslims in the “caliphate”.

In May 2015, he “published” a sort of travel guide for would-be fellow travellers.

The 40-page document, which opens with an image of a fictional battle on the edge of Jerusalem, is designed to encourage Muslims to stop procrastinating and join what Mr Rumaysah claims are the swelling ranks of Islamic State.

Most of the rest of the booklet is devoted to the kind of information that features in a standard travel guide: food, weather and transport.

“If you thought London or New York was cosmopolitan, then wait until you step foot in the Islamic State because it screams diversity,” he wrote.

“In my short time here I have met people from absolutely every walk of life, proof that the caliphate’s pulling power is strong and tenacious.”

He glossed over public executions, rape of women held as slaves and other punishments meted out to anyone who does not adhere to the fighting group’s ideology.

This story originally appeared on BBC News

See The Siddhartha Dhar Execution Video in full

5th January – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

5^th January

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Sunday 5 January 1969

Terence O’Neill, then Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, issued a statement on the events since 1 January

Monday 5 January 1976

Kingsmills Killings Ten Protestant civilians were killed by the Republican Action Force (RAF), believed to be a covername for some members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), in an attack on their minibus at Kingsmills, near Bessbrook, County Armagh. The men were returning from work when their minibus was stopped by a bogus security checkpoint.

See Kingsmill Massacre

An RUC officer was shot dead by members of the IRA near Castledawson, County Derry.

Friday 5 January 1979

Two members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) were killed in a car in Ardoyne, Belfast, when the bomb they were transporting exploded prematurely.

Monday 5 January 1981

Adam Butler, David Mitchel and John Patten were appointed to positions in the Northern Ireland Office (NIO).

Wednesday 5 January 1983

The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) was declared illegal in the Republic of Ireland.

Thursday 6 January 1983

Two undercover Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers were shot dead by members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Rostrevor, County Down.

Saturday 5 January 1991

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) planted a series of incendiary devices in premises in the Belfast area. A factory and six shops were destroyed in the attacks.

Sunday 5 January 1992

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) exploded a bomb, estimated at 500 pounds, in High Street in the centre of Belfast. The bomb caused extensive damage to property in the area.

Tuesday 5 January 1993

Incendiary bombs exploded in four stores in Oxford Street in London. [The bombs had been planted by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).]

Wednesday 5 January 1994

At the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) Michael Ancram became the Political Development Minister, and Tim Smith took over the environment and economy briefs from Robert Atkins. The National Committee on American Foreign Policy invited the leaders of the main political parties in Northern Ireland to attend a conference in New York. The invitations included one to Gerry Adams.

[On 29 January 1994 a visa to enter the USA was given to Adams.]

Sunday 5 January 1997

A bomb, estimated at 250 lbs, was left near Cullyhanna, County Armagh. The device was defused by the British Army.

[It was believed to have been planted by the IRA.]

‘Punishment’ beatings were carried out on two men in north Belfast, and there were three ‘punishment’ shootings in Portadown.

John Hume, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), wrote an article in the Sunday Independent newspaper which responded to approaches from Sinn Féin (SF) for an electoral pact. Hume stated that the SDLP would only enter such a pact if there was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire and if SF dropped its policy of abstention from the Westminster parliament.

[These conditions were rejected by SF.]

Monday 5 January 1998

The leadership of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) in the Maze Prison issued a statement warning that the Loyalist ceasefire was “extremely fragile”. The UDA prisoners also demanded “equal treatment” with Republicans.

Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, held meetings with Unionist and Nationalist politicians at Stormont Castle. The meetings included all the parties to the talks and also the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the United Kingdom Unionist (UKU) party.

The funeral of Eddie Treanor took place in north Belfast.

Families Against Intimidation and Terror (FAIT) issued figures on the number of ‘punishment attacks’ carried out by paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland. The figures showed that there had been 72 shooting incidents in 1997 compared to 31 in 1996. Loyalists had been responsible for 48 (21 in 1996) attacks while Republicans had carried out 24 (10 in 1996) attacks. The number of ‘punishment beatings’ was 160 in 1997 only slightly lower than in 1996.

In economic figures that confirmed the continuing economic boom of the ‘celtic tiger’, forecasts from the Department of Finance in the Republic of Ireland indicated that the Republic’s economy would be financially in the black for the first time in 30 years. Official returns showed that receipts in 1997 had risen by £1 billion (punts) more than the Department had estimated.

Tuesday 5 January 1999

Two men were injured in paramilitary ‘punishment’ attacks carried out by Loyalists.

Four of the five Assembly members for the United Kingdom Unionist Party (UKUP), who had left the party on 14 December 1998, announced that they were forming the Northern Ireland Unionist Party (NIUP). The members who formed the NIUP were Patrick Roche, Cedric Wilson, Roger Hutchinson, and Norman Boyd. This left Robert (Bob) McCartney, then leader of the UKUP, as the only Assembly member from that party. McCartney described the defection as “a day of political infamy and fraud”. The split and formation of a new party followed a number of disagreements within the UKUP.

[The NIUP became the sixth Unionist party within the Northern Ireland Assembly.]

Canon Cecil Cooper, then editor of the Church of Ireland Gazette, defended his criticism of Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), for having his partner, Celia Larkin, accompany him on official occasions.

Friday 5 January 2001

Ken Maginnis, then Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament (MP), and a strong ally of David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), announced that he would step down as MP at the next Westminster election.

[There was media speculation about what impact his departure would have on the balance of power between the pro- and anti-Agreement elements within the UUP.]

Saturday 5 January 2002

Garda Síochána (the Irish police) arrested seven suspected dissident Republicans in County Louth, Republic of Ireland, at approximately 9.00pm (2100GMT). The men were arrested following the search of a house in Dundalk during which a number of weapons were discovered. The men, aged between 20 and 50, were being questioned under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.

[It was believed that two of the men were members of the “real” Irish Republican Army (rIRA). On Tuesday 8 January 2002 six of the men appeared before the Special Criminal Court in Dublin charged with membership of an illegal paramilitary organisation.]

 

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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles

Today is the anniversary of the death of the following  people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die

– Thomas Campbell

To the innocent on the list – Your memory will live  forever

– To  the Paramilitaries  –

There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.

17 People   lost their lives on the 5th  January  between  1972 – 1991

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05 January 1972

Keith Bryan,  (18)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Ardmoulin Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.

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05 January 1973

Trevor Rankin,   (18)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot at Ben Madigan filling station, Shore Road, Belfast. Mistaken for off duty Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) member.

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05 January 1974

Leo McCullagh,   (44)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Shot at his home, Ravenscroft Avenue, Strandtown, Belfast.

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05 January 1976

Clifford Evans,   (30)

Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot by sniper while on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) mobile patrol, near Castledawson, County Derry.

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See Kingsmill Massacre

05 January 1976

John McConville,   (20)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Republican Action Force (RepAF)
Shot shortly after his firm’s minibus stopped at bogus vehicle check point while travelling home from work, Kingsmills, near Bessbrook, County Armagh.

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05 January 1976

Walter Chapman,   (23)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Republican Action Force (RepAF)
Shot shortly after his firm’s minibus stopped at bogus vehicle check point while travelling home from work, Kingsmills, near Bessbrook, County Armagh.

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05 January 1976

Reginald Chapman, (25)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Republican Action Force (RepAF)
Shot shortly after his firm’s minibus stopped at bogus vehicle check point while travelling home from work, Kingsmills, near Bessbrook, County Armagh.

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05 January 1976

Joseph Lemmon,   (46)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ)

Killed by: Republican Action Force (RepAF)
Shot shortly after his firm’s minibus stopped at bogus vehicle check point while travelling home from work, Kingsmills, near Bessbrook, County Armagh.

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05 January 1976

James McWhirter,   (58)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Republican Action Force (RepAF)
Shot shortly after his firm’s minibus stopped at bogus vehicle check point while travelling home from work, Kingsmills, near Bessbrook, County Armagh.

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05 January 1976

Kenneth Worton,   (24)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Republican Action Force (RepAF)
Shot shortly after his firm’s minibus stopped at bogus vehicle check point while travelling home from work, Kingsmills, near Bessbrook, County Armagh.

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05 January 1976

Robert Chambers,  (19)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Republican Action Force (RepAF)
Shot shortly after his firm’s minibus stopped at bogus vehicle check point while travelling home from work, Kingsmills, near Bessbrook, County Armagh.

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05 January 1976

John Bryans,   (46)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Republican Action Force (RepAF)
Shot shortly after his firm’s minibus stopped at bogus vehicle check point while travelling home from work, Kingsmills, near Bessbrook, County Armagh

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05 January 1976

Robert Freeburn,  (50)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Republican Action Force (RepAF)
Shot shortly after his firm’s minibus stopped at bogus vehicle check point while travelling home from work, Kingsmills, near Bessbrook, County Armagh.

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05 January 1976

Robert Walker,   (46)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Republican Action Force (RepAF)
Shot shortly after his firm’s minibus stopped at bogus vehicle check point while travelling home from work, Kingsmills, near Bessbrook, County Armagh.

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05 January 1979

Frances Donnelly,   (24)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in premature bomb explosion, while travelling in car, Northwick Drive, Ardoyne, Belfast.

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05 January 1979

Lawrence Montgomery,   (24)

Catholic
Status: Irish Republican Army (IRA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in premature bomb explosion, while travelling in car, Northwick Drive, Ardoyne, Belfast

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05 January 1991

Jervis Lynch,  (26)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot at his home, Acres Road, Magheralin, near Lurgan, County Down.

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