IRA placed mine on patrol route
Oglaigh na hEireann's Belfast Brigade has said in a supplied
statement that its Volunteers left a huge landmine at Poleglass
near West Belfast last weekend.
The IRA statement also revealed details of the operation saying
they had fitted a white Renault van with false number plates
similar to a Department of the Environment's Water Board van.
A yellow rooftop beacon completed the decoy. Loaded with 1,000lbs
of explosives the van was driven to a position beside a roadway
frequently used as a staging point for British patrols. A command
wire was attached.
However as Volunteers awaited their military target a number of
civilians moved close to the van and the operation had to be
aborted. IRA engineers dismantled the firing mechanism. They also
telephoned a coded warning giving the precise location of the van
bomb. This was not acted on by British forces for almost 12 hours
despite the warning being very specific as to the nature and
location of the abandoned vehicle.
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