Defeat terrorists once and for all...

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Defeat terrorists once and for all...
EDITOR'S VIEWPOINT – 16 JANUARY 2014

It has always been surmised that the number of dissident republicans operating the terror campaign in Northern Ireland are small in number.

That now has been confirmed by PSNI information that has identified 25 hard-core terrorists primarily intent on murdering members of the security forces.

And they have already struck, being responsible for the death of Constable Ronan Kerr and inflicting serious injuries on Constable Peadar Heffron as well as a series of other serious crimes.

What clearly emerges from the police briefing is that cases are being built against this ruthless coalition of dissidents.

That is some reassurance to the public who often believe that it is the terrorists who are making the running and that police appear powerless to intervene. That does not seem to be the case. Already lower-level terrorists have been arrested and guns and bomb making equipment discovered, including a recent arsenal of weapons in Omagh which resulted in one man being jailed.

That shows there is a flow of information coming to police through the work of the intelligence services and from members of the public. Building up strong cases against experienced terrorists is a painstaking task. While police may well know who was involved in various incidents, proving it is much more difficult.

It is also evident that those who are most actively involved in dissident republican terrorism – as well as those who are directing them – are well versed in how to escape detection and are also extremely dangerous. They have a nihilistic view which wants to return society to chaos but it is welcome news police and MI5 have them in their sights.

Of course the best news would be when these men are charged, brought before the courts and convicted. There is minimal support for their campaign and the whole of society will breathe a sigh of relief when they are eventually put behind bars and the peace here becomes total and permanent.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/op...-29921569.html

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Terror network of dissident republicans laid bare...
Terror network of dissident republicans laid bare: Police know who's involved in killer gangs
We know who's involved in killer gangs, says PSNI

BY CHRIS KILPATRICK – 16 JANUARY 2014

Detectives have identified high-ranking members of a killer dissident gang responsible for a terror campaign throughout Northern Ireland.

Police are monitoring a number of men active in terror cells across the province and across the border, and provided a rare insight into the huge scale of the operation being carried out by the security forces to contain them.

Police are investigating a number of off-shoots of the dissident gang, comprising around 20-25 individuals in total, based in Omagh, Coalisland, Toomebridge and Ballyronan on the northern shore of Lough Neagh, and Monaghan in the Irish Republic.

And they said the would-be killers are being directed by an overall leadership based in Belfast.

Officers have carried out 11,750 tasks or actions so far – that is already more than the 10,500 undertaken during the investigation into the Real IRA's 1998 Omagh bomb.

Investigators have linked the murder of young Catholic police officer Ronan Kerr to 16 other crimes committed by the inter-connected dissident republican umbrella group.

The 25-year-old was killed by a booby-trap car bomb explosion at his Omagh home in April 2011.

Police hunting for those behind the atrocity say they believe they have identified the man who made the bomb.

They say the dissident is based in the Republic of Ireland, describing him as "experienced and competent" at manufacturing murderous devices.

The year before Mr Kerr's murder, another officer, GAA enthusiast Peadar Heffron, suffered horrific injuries in a similar attack.

In relation to the 17 offences under investigation, detectives said they had gathered a significant amount of evidence linking three men to some of the most serious.

Among the incidents by the self-styled new IRA – directed by its Belfast leadership –were two failed murder bids that seriously injured two police officers, including Mr Heffron, and a car bomb attack on the Policing Board in Belfast.

In a further layer of complexity, police think some of the dissidents use a criminal gang in Omagh to secure some of their hardware.

Fourteen arrests have been made so far.

Police said the investigation could last for up to five years.

No charges have yet been brought against the men police yesterday earmarked as key dissident suspects, in either Mr Kerr's murder or the other offences, explaining that more time was needed to build the cases against them.

A senior police officer in charge of the police strategy to combat dissident republican terrorists yesterday welcomed the sentencing of an Omagh man for terror offences as a significant milestone.

The arsenal was described as the biggest weapons haul recovered in a decade.

Items found inside a lock-up garage included four AK47 assault rifles, Semtex, timer power units used for detonating bombs, ammunition, incendiary devices, a booster pack for an RPG7 rocket, and parts of an improvised PRIG grenade.

"The Mountjoy Road arms find is one of the biggest in recent years," said Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris (below).

"On one very important level, it has saved lives and significantly disrupted a terrorist group.

"On another, more strategic, level, it forms part of the police investigation into a series of linked incidents which include Constable Kerr's murder.

"Although we have yet to bring charges for Ronan's murder, this investigation, which is the largest in the PSNI's history, is far from over.

"We have made progress and we believe there is potential to bring other individuals before the courts."

Details of the device used to kill Mr Kerr were revealed yesterday.

Police said magnets used in the device came from the sign of a taxi stolen in Omagh just over a fortnight before the murder.

"We will continue to pursue a comprehensive forensic strategy," added Mr Harris.

Jailed: man who kept weapons and explosives haul in a lock-up garage

A dissident republican who admitted possessing a large cache of guns and explosives has been sentenced to 10 years.

Gavin Coyle (36), from Omagh, Co Tyrone, was arrested in 2011 when detectives investigating the murder of newly-qualified policeman Ronan Kerr discovered the arms dump in a lock-up garage in the Tyrone town of Coalisland.

Items seized included Semtex plastic explosive, four AK47 assault rifles, ammunition and magazines, a booster for an RPG rocket; three bomb timer units, a number of electronic incendiary devices, components of an improvised PRIG grenade, explosive powder and detonating cord.

Last year Coyle, from Culmore Park, pleaded guilty to possession of explosives and firearms with intent to endanger life and membership of a proscribed organisation, namely the group that styles itself as the "new IRA".

Passing sentence at Belfast Crown Court, Judge Corinne Philpott said half of the 10-year term would be spent behind bars and the remainder on licence.

Coyle, dressed in a grey polo shirt and jeans, showed no emotion in the dock as the sentence was handed down.

Constable Kerr (25) was killed in April 2011 when a booby-trap bomb exploded under his car outside his home in Omagh. No one has been convicted in connection with the attack – claimed by members of the new IRA.

Detectives investigating their colleague's death have widened the probe to include 16 other crimes blamed on gangs belonging to the dissident group, with the discovery of the Coalisland arms dump considered a significant element of the inquiry.

It was uncovered within days of the police officer's murder.

Coyle was forensically linked to the weapons store by footprint analysis.

Coyle was given a six-year sentence for IRA membership, 10 years for possession of explosives and 10 for possession of firearms, with Judge Philpott ordering that the terms be served concurrently.

After hearing pleas from defence and prosecution lawyers, the judge said she had taken into account Coyle's admission of guilt in mitigation.

She said she had also factored in that the charges related to "keeping or assisting in keeping" the weapons for others, and not for deployment by himself.

But she said an aggravating factor was the nature of the weapons haul that had been found.

"It's very fortunate that police discovered these items before they could be put to use. Regarding the firearms, the AK47s are of some considerable vintage. It looks like these weapons have been re-activated," she said.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ne...-29921545.html

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Getting evidence from intelligence is a slow process...
BY BRIAN ROWAN – 16 JANUARY 2014

No matter how good the intelligence flow, there will always be missing pieces.

The police now believe they have identified the bombmaker who constructed the device that killed police constable Ronan Kerr. But that attack, almost three years ago, came in under the radar – there simply wasn't the same flow of intelligence back then.

Converting the information that is now available into evidence will be a painstaking process.

We read in this police briefing how detectives are looking at links to more than a dozen other incidents stretched out over a number of years.

That link is to the group that now calls itself the IRA, a coalition that brought a number of the different parts of that dissident world under the one roof.

When you look at the list of linked incidents under investigation, you see the fine lines between what the dissidents would term success and failure.

What we also see are those moments when MI5 and PSNI Intelligence have had information, and those other occasions when they have been in the dark.

The under-car bomb that seriously injured police constable Peadar Heffron was another moment when they didn't see or hear the planning for that attack.

The dissidents know there have been many occasions when they have been seen and heard – picked up in patient surveillance operations or 'betrayed' by talking inside their own ranks.

The new IRA coalition was about tightening up internal security, bringing weapons and expertise under one leadership, but still they struggle to put together a series of attacks.

For every shooting or bombing that succeeds in their terms, many others fail.

And the leadership of this organisation has been disrupted.

Those who hold the highest rank within the dissidents are known not just to those in the corridors of security and intelligence gathering, but also across the republican communities.

Their names are no secret – more an open book.

Even so, the threat posed by this IRA coalition and the other factions such as the Continuity IRA and Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH) cannot be taken lightly.

Indeed, it was the last of those groups that put its name to the bomb placed under Peadar Heffron's car, telling this newspaper in an interview: "We target the uniform and what it stands for."

It is known that some of those identified at the time with the ONH faction and that attack have since become key figures in the leadership of the IRA coalition.

That is how this world, and those who are part of it, move from one place and one title to another.

We know from watching the pattern of activity that much of what they attempt fails, but not all of it, and that deadly war play continues in the background.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/de...-29921548.html

[adipocere]

Are you serious? :confused:

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Serious about what exactly?

[adipocere]

I mean, these articles as "ongoing struggles."

[Prometeo liberado]

Serious about being in bed with pigs it looks like.

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I mean, these articles as "ongoing struggles."

Well the struggle in Ireland for national liberation is a ongoing struggle, so I think it fits in nicely in the "Ongoing struggles" section

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Serious about being in bed with pigs it looks like.

Every struggle and cause have betrayers and traitors in it.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

I feel like the small group that is still committed to planting bombs couldn't be further from whatever struggle is left in northern ireland. I'm not going to shed a tear for cops and soldiers, but if the bombing campaign wasn't successful when they had a mass movement behind them, it sure as fuck isn't going to be successful when everyone has stopped giving a fuck and has moved on.

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I feel like the small group that is still committed to planting bombs couldn't be further from whatever struggle is left in northern ireland. I'm not going to shed a tear for cops and soldiers, but if the bombing campaign wasn't successful when they had a mass movement behind them, it sure as fuck isn't going to be successful when everyone has stopped giving a fuck and has moved on.

I think you are right in what you are saying. At the moment in Irish Republicanism there is a debate going on how to bring the struggle forward. There are some trying to build a reformist campaign, their slogan is One Ireland One Vote. These want a referendum on a united Ireland. And there are others pursuing a revolutionary Marxist path to create 32 county socialist Ireland. Both these strategies don't seek to involve armed struggle. And both seek to mobilise the people.

[adipocere]

Well the struggle in Ireland for national liberation is a ongoing struggle, so I think it fits in nicely in the "Ongoing struggles" section
Well a disclaimer or something, otherwise folks might get the wrong idea. It's like getting information about the Black Panthers from the FBI...

[Sea]

Every struggle and cause have betrayers and traitors in it.Does the IRA even have a Malinovsky-level traitor, or are they mostly just scabs?

Of course, if they did, we wouldn't know anyway or s/he would be booted out..

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Does the IRA even have a Malinovsky-level traitor, or are they mostly just scabs?

Of course, if they did, we wouldn't know anyway or s/he would be booted out..

Ya wouldn't know.Its said that there was high level Provisionals working for MI5. There has been a few High level Provisionals exposed as working for the British intelligence services.