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Six shot as gunman opens fire at British Army Base in Ireland

by Amy Judd | March 7, 2009 at 03:01 pm

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Six people have been shot and two have died at the Masserene British Army Base in Antrim, Northern Ireland shooting.

Previous coverage.

Five people have been reported shot at the Masserene British Army Base in Antrim, Northern Ireland, and at least one has died at this point. The one casualty is thought to be a British soldier.

The BBC is reporting that at least one person has died after unidentified gunmen opened fire at a British army base in Northern Ireland.

All the deaths are military personnel.

Shots were fired from a passing car and there were two long bursts of gunfire, according to reports.

Immediately afterwards sirens could be heard inside the military barracks, which is located on the edge of the town.

Northern Ireland Ambulance service spokesman Norman Cunningham told Sky News an emergency call was received at 9.40pm.

"The caller said there was a shooting incident and there were multiple people injured," he said.

"We dispatched six ambulances and two rapid response vehicles, and then transferred six patients to hospital but two have died."

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Blue Crush

at 17:17 on March 7th, 2009

Times online is reporting two dead. BBC news reported the gunmen were let into the barracks "on a phoney pizza delivery."

(I've tried to recommend, it's still not working).

kuuva

at 17:23 on March 7th, 2009

any new news, like what was the motivation?

Paschen

at 17:29 on March 7th, 2009

It must be the upcoming full moon or the long winter, way to much violence and to many such incidences around the globe. This is a set back for N Ireland in a big way.

Barry Artiste

at 18:07 on March 7th, 2009

One wonders the motive, cowardly bastards!

Fripouille

at 18:16 on March 7th, 2009

Tragic news for Ireland and the Irish.

I hope and dream that we have now all gotten over the "IRA liberators of Ireland" thing.

It's time for peace now. These people should be hunted down like the irresponsible and incendiary terrorists they are..

Babel-Fish

at 20:03 on March 7th, 2009

There is still an element that want a united Ireland and I suspect this is the work of a political terrorist group called the Real Irish Republican Army.

They do not have much backing at present nor the money to run an active day to day terrorist campaign. They have raised money robbing banks and by running protection rackets.

I feel we are going to see more of attacks like this one geared to what this terrorist gang of crooks can afford. This however will not lead to a build up full scale terrorism as there is no political power or support behind these criminals. The IRA have got most of the rights they where fighting for and they have now got good political representation in the northern Ireland parliament.

I expect the old IRA will help hunt these crooks down and be more effectively than the police as they can operate on both sides of the border. In the past the IRA have been known to cull the so called "Real IRA" activity as they the IRA know this is not the path for peace and representation in Northern Ireland.

I have been analyzing the problems of Northern Ireland since I served there in the 1970's on the streets and as a military intelligence gatherer. I can assure you we are not seeing a new flare up, the troubles normally start with civil unrest on the streets around the orange day marches. We are not seeing the beginnings of a mass of terrorism but just the terror tactics of a radical off shoot of the old IRA.

nehalarya

at 22:40 on March 7th, 2009

Two soldiers have been shot dead during a gun attack at an Army base in County Antrim, the Ministry of Defence says.

A spokesman said "four other personnel" were also injured. Earlier reports suggested they were all male.

It is believed that the victims were taking delivery of pizzas at Massereene army base in Antrim, 16 miles north of Belfast, when the gunmen struck.