Northern Ireland: "Dissident Republican Activity on Increase"
Quote:
Dissident republican activity has been increasing of late, with police in Northern Ireland fearful of a spate of violent incidents marking the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising.
Londonderry's Creggan estate is central to their concerns.
An intelligence-led operation took them into the area late on Thursday night in a hunt for weapons and ammunition.
They were concerned they could be used in the days ahead to attack officers.
The group blamed for killing journalist Lyra McKee is known as the New IRA and was behind a bomb attack outside the city's courthouse at the start of the year.
There have been other signs of violent intentions elsewhere.
Recently, a horizontal mortar tube and command wire were discovered near Castlewellan in County Down.
The dissident republican threat remains classed as severe and in recent days the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has been assessing what could, in particular, occur over coming days.
They had called for calm ahead of illegal parades planned in Londonderry and Lurgan in County Armagh.
But that appeal was shattered by gunfire that killed a journalist standing near police lines.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-47987578
'I don’t see any reason why that’s going to stop'.
The title comes from the leader of Saoradh, a political party that reflects New IRA thinking and their statement:
Quote:
A republican volunteer attempted to defend people from the PSNI/RUC. Tragically a young journalist,
Lyra McKee, was killed accidentally.
In response to the murder:
Quote:
The murder of this young woman is a human tragedy for her family, but it is also an attack on all the people of this community, an attack on our peace process and an attack on the Good Friday agreement,” said Sinn Féin’s deputy leader, Michelle O’Neill.
Link:https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/apr/19/new-ira-and-saoradh-face-backlash-over-lyra-mckee?
Just whether a "backlash" from the local community will happen or have an effect is a moot point.
An Open Source Survey of the Shooting of Lyra McKee - by Bellingcat
A short report using the footage taken at the scene, plus what the PSNI has released.
Link:https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-a...of-lyra-mckee/
I am not an expert on such issues, but is clear that the police were inside their armoured Land Rovers - which were being hit by petrol bombs and other missiles. Oddly IMHO standing some distance behind the two vehicles at the front is a large group of individuals, who appear to be mainly adults just watching. The shots fired, estimates vary, would not have hit any police officer, just those watching.
Lyra McKee - Right Killed By Wrong - an ex-PIRA volunteer writes
The linked comment was id'd via Twitter and is rather direct - the author's bio explains:
Quote:
Former IRA volunteer and ex-prisoner, spent 18 years in
Long Kesh, 4 years on the
blanket and
no-wash/no work protests which led to the
hunger strikes of
the 80s. Completed PhD at Queens upon release from prison. Left the Republican Movement at the endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement, and went on to become a journalist. Co-founder of
The Blanket, an online magazine that critically analyzed the Irish peace process. Lead researcher for the
Belfast Project, an oral history of the Troubles.
Link to bio:http://www.thepensivequill.com/
A "taster" passage:
Quote:
Lyra McKee, sadly, is highly unlikely to be the final victim of the malevolent militarism that remains both arrogantly indifferent and haughtily impervious to the twin concept that others have rights and that there is no right to practice homicide. Citizen rights - not on their watch, just their right to kill. Lyra was not in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her killers were.
Link:http://www.thepensivequill.com/2019/...wrong.html?m=1
Derry: a city still haunted by rigid segregation and poverty
The contribution of these factors on violence; a useful pointer in one passage:
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In Derry, where the seeds of economic underdevelopment were arguably a cause and not a consequence of the conflict, the peace dividend never materialised.
It ends with:
Quote:
In a place where poverty and worklessness are commonplace, dissident republicanism offers a sense of meaning to some young people who are alienated from the 1998 vision of power sharing, peace and prosperity – none of which have materialised in Derry.
Link:https://theconversation.com/derry-a-...overty-115936?
Targeted killing: alternative views
Now awhile ago I reviewed William Matchett's book 'Secret Victory: The Intelligence War that beat the IRA' in a separate thread:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...y-intelligence
A "lurker" has pointed to an alternative view by Rory Finegan:
Quote:
This study has found that TKs over a prolonged period predicated on accurate intelligence had no discernible deterrent effect on PIRA; the desire for backlash was always inherent but negated by security forces measures; with regard to disruption, TKs as implemented in East Tyrone had a cumulative effect on the operational capability of PIRA; and finally in relation to diminishing capacity while PIRA initiated substitution equally under this pillar TKs caused a gradual but incremental decline in operational efficiency and effectiveness.
The author found in a case study focused on East Tyrone PIRA suggests that TKs however, should not be presented as an absolute proven solution in themselves to patterns of political violence. But when combined with other factors if utilised surgically and in a discrete manner they are a factor and therefore as a counterinsurgency tactic, their utility cannot be dismissed.
Finegan's PhD is 4Mb (probably free to download) and there is a summary here:http://doras.dcu.ie/19724/
There is a secomd article 'Counterterrorism Killings and Provisional IRA Bombings, 1970-1998' which is alas behind a pay-wall:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full...3.2016.1155932
Copied to the Targeted Killings thread.