Real IRA issues statement, video

The ‘Real IRA’ have issued a statement that they intend to launch further attacks on the PSNI police following two gun attacks on PSNI members in Dungannon and Derry in the past two weeks.

The statement was passed on in a remote area of Tyrone on Tuesday by a masked man who said he represented the group.

He also handed over a video tape which shows two men with a rifle and a a handgun on a weapons training exercise.

“We will continue to target Crown forces at a time and place of our choosing,” said the group, which refers to itself simply as the IRA. The ‘Real IRA’ broke away from the Provisional IRA in 1996.

The statement also warned people who had claimed responsibility for their attacks to stop - a previously unheard of group called the Irish Republican Liberation Army said it shot the PSNI man in Dungannon.

The Real IRA said the ‘Irish Republican Liberation Army’ (IRLA) were not republicans and nothing but a bunch of criminals using a republican title.

“This criminal gang offers nothing to the republican cause and we advise them to desist from their activities immediately.” The statement said the group should be aware their activities were being monitored.

Meanwhile, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) in Derry have given a reputed drug dealer in Derry 24 hours to leave the city.

The INLA is understood to have given the ultimatum on Monday night.

An INLA source said: “Members of the INLA went into a house in the Creggan area of Derry and ordered a man who is involved in drug dealing to leave the city within 24 hours or face action.

“The INLA have hard evidence that this man is involved in the supply and distribution of hard drugs in the area. The INLA have repeatedly made it clear that drugs will not be tolerated in our communities,” the spokesperson said.

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