Derry youths attack British forces as harassment rises

There have been disturbances in Derry after British soldiers joined the PSNI in searches near Magowan Park in the Creggan area of the city.

Bottles and stones were thrown at masked and armed British troopers who were focused on an area adjacent to homes in the republican area of the city.

The trouble broke out on Sunday evening and continued for a second night and involved up to 30 local youths, according to the PSNI.

Anti Imperialist Action Ireland praised “the youth of Republican Creggan” for “defending the area against incursion by British Crown forces”.

Sporadic PSNI raids have been ongoing in Derry and Tyrone since a gun attack in Omagh last month carried out by the New IRA. A total of twelve people have now been arrrested and released in connection with the attack in which a senior PSNI figure was injured.

HARASSMENT

Republican groups have also come in for increased levels of stop-and-search detentions this week.

Saoradh said a member of its youth movement in Derry had been the subject of the most recent arrest and interrogation by the PSNI.

“This type of harassment and oppression of political activists is nothing new,” they said. “Our comrades in Derry won’t be deterred by this type of treatment.”

Two senior members of Lasair Dhearg were also forcibly searched this week by militarised police.

Pádraic MacCoitir, Vice Chairperson of Lasair Dhearg, said that they were held for “a significant period of time by the side of the road.”

“As myself and a comrade made our way along the Falls Road in West Belfast, we were followed by a heavily armoured PSNI vehicle which then forced us to stop.

“We were subjected to questions about our identity, where we had been and where we were going, before the armed gunmen turned out our pockets and searched us by the side of the road.”

“A significant amount of support was received from passersby who both spoke to us and beeped their horns in solidarity as we were held for 20 to 30 minutes for no apparent reason.”

“It is worth noting that these gunmen have forcibly stopped and searched over 370,000 people in the last ten years, the equivalent of one fifth of the population of the Six Counties, leading to a miniscule number of arrests or prosecutions and that this force refuses to record the community background of those that they subject to these anti-community activities because they know that it would show that draconian legislation is being used almost exclusively against one community.”

Urgent Appeal