Wikipedia:WikiProject Irish Republican Army/Preparation/1985 Newry mortar attack

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The 1985 Newry mortar attack was an attack on by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) station, which killed nine RUC officers.

Background
The IRA, in particular the South Armagh Brigade, had repeatedly used home-made mortars but with little success. Between 1973 and early 1978 a total of 71 mortar attacks were recorded, which failed to kill a single member of the security forces. The IRA's only recorded successful use of mortars was on 12 November 1983, when a police officer was killed and several injured when Carrickmore police station was attacked.

The attack
The attack was jointly planned by members of the South Armagh Brigade and an IRA unit in Newry. In the early evening of 28 February 1985, nine shells were launched from a Mark 10 mortar bolted onto the back of a Ford lorry that had been hijacked in Crossmaglen. Eight shells overshot the station, but one 50-lb shell landed directly on a Portakabin containing a temporary canteen. Nine police officers were killed, including a cousin of Unionist politician Jeffrey Donaldson, and 37 people were injured including 25 civilian police employees. The death toll was the highest inflicted on the RUC in its history.

Aftermath
The day was dubbed "Bloody Thursday" by the British press. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher described the attack as "barbaric", while Irish Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald said it was "cruel and cynical", and plegded the help of Irish security forces to catch those responsible. Although not involved in the attack, Newry IRA member Eamon Collins was arrested shortly afterwards and interrogated. After five days of questioning, Collins broke under interrogation and turned supergrass, leading to more than a dozen arrests of other IRA members.