The Troubles 19

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THE TROUBLES

Saturday 3rd February 1973 East Belfast sniper attack Soldiers have come under heavy fire from snipers in East Belfast for the second day running. Riots have continued in the Newtownards Road, Ballybeen and Dundonald areas. Three soldiers have been injured in rioting and rubber bullets have been fired. As troops left their base in the Harbour Estate to move to the east end they came under sniper fire from two gunmen operating from Dee Street. More than 50 shots were fired by the gunmen.

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7,345 revolvers or pistols and of these 5,271 are issued to the security forces and a limited number of civilians for personal protection. A further 1,633 weapons fall into the category of antiques or relics. Mr Whitelaw has also been told that over the past two years 2,000 illegal weapons have been captured by the Army and RUC.

Saturday 3rd February 1973 Body found in car The body of a man, aged between 25 and 30 has been found in the boot of a car. The man, who has yet to be identified, Saturday 3rd February 1973 was found inside a car which had been dumped in Maurice Derry bomb attack Street, Belfast. Residents there became concerned about A bomb has exploded at Joy’s newsagents and wool shop the car which appeared to have been abandoned and notiin Bishop Street, Derry. An anonymous warning to the fied the RUC. RUC stated that there were two bombs in Joys and the third in a supermarket across the street with a fourth in a nearby Saturday 3rd February 1973 drapery store. The supermarket and drapery store were Woman and child attacked searched but nothing was found. The bomb in Joy’s con- A woman and her daughter have had a narrow escape when tained between 10 and 20 lb of explosives a gunman fired three bursts of machine gun fire as they went to answer a knock on their door in Belfast. Fourteen Saturday 3rd February 1973 shots were fired but no one was injured. Legal weapons The Secretary of State, William Whitelaw has been given a Saturday 3rd February 1973 breakdown on the amount of legally held weapons in the Youth shot dead, four others injured North. According to official figures there are: a total of The second person to die during the night was one of six 106,581 licensed firearms, of these 73,345 are shotguns, Protestant youths who were caught in gunfire as they left a 11,826 are air guns and 13,305 are .22 rifles. There are Church youth club at the junction of the Ballysillan and also 760 other rifles which are held by members of rifle Oldpark roads. The shots were fired by gunmen who were clubs or are war trophies. In addition to these there are: operating from the rear of a yellow mini. The vehicle was


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