Timeline of British undercover forces in Operation Banner

The following is a Timeline of British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) undercover operations during Operation Banner during the 1969 – 1998 Northern Irish conflict in Northern Ireland that resulted in death or injury. Including operations by the SAS, 14 Intelligence Company, the Military Reaction Force (MRF), RUC Special Patrol Group and Special Branch.

• Dates resulting in at least three or more deaths are marked in bold.

1970s

1972

• 15 April – Brothers Gerry and John Conway—both Catholic civilians—were walking along Whiterock Road to catch a bus. As they passed St Thomas's School, a car stopped, and three men leapt out and began shooting at them with pistols. The brothers ran, but both were shot and wounded. Witnesses said one of the gunmen returned to the car and spoke into a handset radio. Shortly afterward two armoured personnel carriers arrived, and there was a conversation between the uniformed and the plainclothes soldiers. The three vehicles then left, and the brothers were taken by ambulance to the Royal Victoria Hospital. The British Army told journalists that a patrol had encountered two wanted men, that one had fired at the patrol, and that the patrol returned fire. In a 1978 interview, a former MRF member claimed he had been one of the gunmen. On 1 December 2015 the PSNI listed this shooting as one of nine incidents it was investigating in relation to the activities of the British Army's Military Reaction Force (MRF). In 2020, the High Court ordered the MoD to pay compensation to the widow of John Conway. It also established that the Conway brothers were actually shot by a special unit from the King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) led by Lieutenaunt Julian Ball.
• 6 May – An 18-year-old male was shot and injured at the Glen Road area of west Belfast, by the MRF.
• 7 May – A 15-year-old boy was shot and injured outside a disco in the Glen Road area of west Belfast by the MRF.
• 9 May – The MRF fired shots at a vehicle in the Kashmir Road area of west Belfast. Nobody was injured
• 12 May – Patrick McVeigh a 44 year old Catholic civilian was shot dead by the British Army's undercover MRF unit, at Riverdale Park South, Andersonstown, Belfast. Four other people were injured in the attack.
• 12 May – Later the same night Patrick McVeigh was shot and killed, the MRF shot and injured an 18-year-old man in the Slievegallion area of west Belfast.
• 26 May – The MRF shot and injured a 34-year-old man, in the Silvio Street area of north Belfast.
• 22 June – In the afternoon the MRF shot and injured four civilians in the Glen Road area of west Belfast.
• 26 June – 19 year old Catholic civilian Daniel Rooney was shot dead by the MRF, at St James Crescent, Falls Road, Belfast. Another 18-year-old man was also shot and injured in this shooting attack.
• In total at least two people were killed by the MRF between April – June 1972 with another 13 people being injured.
• 2 October – Attack on MRF – After extracting confessions from IRA Volunteers who were working for the MRF, the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade attacked the Military Reaction Force. From the confessions of one of the IRA Volunteers, they found out the MRF had a number of front companies including the Four Square Laundry and the Gemini massage parlour on the Antrim Road. The Belfast Brigades 2nd Battalion led by Brendan Hughes first attacked the Four Square Laundry van in the Twinbrook, Belfast area. Four Volunteers attacked the van and killed the driver who was an undercover soldier in the Royal Engineers, a MRF woman posing as Nationalist under attack from Loyalists escaped. The IRA claimed they machine-gunned and killed undercover operatives in the hidden roof part of the van, the 3rd Battalion of the brigade shot up the Massage Parlour. The IRA claimed they had killed five undercover soldiers, the British only admitted to one killing, the driver shot dead at Twinbrook.

1973

• 4 February – IRA Volunteer Tony Campbell (19), and civilians Ambrose Hardy (26), Brendan Maguire (33) and John Loughran (35) were shot dead by British undercover snipers in the New Lodge area of Belfast. See also: New Lodge Six shooting.

1974

• 26 January – Soldiers from the Special Air Service (SAS) intercepted a team of loyalist paramilitaries returning weapons to a derelict farmhouse on the outskirts of Saintfield that was being used as an arms cache. One of the loyalists was shot and wounded in the chest as he ascended the staircase. Three comrades waiting for him in front of the building were captured by soldiers emerging from a hidden observation post.
• 24 February – IRA Belfast Brigade commander Ivor Bell was arrested after being spotted entering a known safehouse by an SAS unit carrying out covert surveillance.
• 14 April – Captain Anthony Pollen (27) was shot dead in Meenan Square, Derry while conducting undercover surveillance with 14 Intelligence Company. Pollen was part of a group of four operators, divided into two-man observation teams, that were posing as journalists covering a parade held to commemorate the upcoming anniversary of the Easter Rising. As the other team kept their distance, Pollen and his teammate mingled with the crowd, but soon drew suspicion from IRA 'marshals' monitoring the event. Failing to answer when challenged, Pollen was killed by armed IRA members originally assembled to fire a tribute volley. Despite being armed, he hesitated and failed to draw his personal protective weapon. The other operators from 14 Intelligence Company escaped the scene without injury.
• 12 June – The Belfast detachment of 14 Intelligence Company tracked weaponry being moved by loyalists to an Orange Hall on Shankhill Road. The building was subsequently raided by regular British Army soldiers, who retrieved an arsenal of weapons likely stored for an intended 'major military offensive' in North Belfast.
• 3 August – IRA member Martin Skillen (21) was shot dead at the junction of Sevastopol Street and the Falls Road by British Army soldiers manning a covert observation post from the derelict Clonard cinema. Skillen had apparently been preparing an ambush against members of the Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) when he was killed.

1975

• 20 January – IRA member Kevin Coen (28) was killed in an exchange of gunfire with two operators from 14 Intelligence Company as he attempted to hijack a bus at an IRA roadblock at Cassidy's Cross, near Kinawley.

1976

• 12 March – The SAS abducted IRA member Sean McKenna (23), who was wanted for attempted murder and a string of other offences. McKenna was abducted at 2:30 am while sleeping at home in Edentubber, County Louth in a cross-border raid by the SAS. Once across the border, he was officially arrested by another detachment of the British Army.
• 16 April – IRA member Peter Cleary (26) was captured and shot dead by the SAS near Forkhill. Suspected of involvement in the Kingsmill massacre, Cleary was snatched when he returned to the home of his girlfriend a few hundred yards inside the border. He was killed when he allegedly attacked his guard while the SAS unit awaited a helicopter from Bessbrook. IRA sources claimed Cleary had been 'assassinated'.
• 5 May – The Irish Army and the Garda Síochána arrested an 8 man-strong SAS unit who unwittingly strayed across the border into County Louth. The SAS team were stopped at a Gardaí checkpoint, and initially resisted arrest until more Irish Army soldiers showed up, at which point they laid down their weapons and were taken into custody.

1977

• 16 January – IRA member Seamus Harvey (20) was shot dead by four SAS soldiers as he examined an abandoned car three miles outside of Crossmaglen in the Coolderry area. The SAS unit, concealed in nearby brackles and nettles, was observing Harvey as well as IRA comrades watching events from further away.
• 15 May – Captain Robert Nairac (29) was kidnapped on an 'undercover mission' at the Three Step Inn near Forkhill, County Armagh. He was driven across the border, beaten and shot, then buried in an unmarked grave. Nairac was a Military Liaison Officer (MLO) attached to 14 Intelligence Company – his sole mandate was to brief soldiers on information received and collated from MI5 and RUC Special Branch, so his unsanctioned presence at the Three Step Inn may have been a sign he was attempting to develop his own sources of intelligence. His remains have never been found.
• 12 December – Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) member Colm “Rooster” McNutt (18) was shot dead by an operator from 14 Intelligence Company at the corner of Rossville Street and William Street in Derry. McNutt and fellow INLA member Patrick Phelan attempted to hijack a car, unaware the occupant was an undercover soldier. The soldier played along and exited the vehicle, then double tapped McNutt with a Browning pistol as he moved to the passenger side. Phelan fled but was later arrested by the RUC and prosecuted for the attempted hijacking.
• 14 December – Corporal Paul Harman (27) of 14 Intelligence Company was shot dead by the IRA in West Belfast. Harman was undercover when he stopped his red Morris Marina on Monagh Avenue. When an IRA group approached and attempted to hijack the vehicle, Harman exited and tried to engage them but was killed by a concealed sniper there to cover the other IRA members – this extra precaution may have been influenced by the way Colm McNutt was killed two days earlier.

1978

• 26 February – IRA member Paul Duffy (23) was shot dead by SAS soldiers in the yard of an unoccupied farmhouse at Washing Bay, near Coagh, County Tyrone – the building was being used to store explosives and Duffy made a 'spur of the moment decision' to move them elsewhere. Another IRA member, who had driven Duffy to the site, was shot and wounded while escaping. Duffy was the nephew of prominent SDLP politician Paddy Duffy.
• 17 March – Lance Corporal David Jones (23) of 14 Intelligence Company was killed during a firefight with three IRA members near Maghera, County Londonderry. The IRA unit were unknowingly approaching a covert observation post on the Glenshane Pass manned by Jones and a fellow operator. Jones, worried the men could be allies from the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), shouted a challenge to the trio – they immediately opened fire and Jones was mortally wounded. He returned fire nevertheless, shooting IRA commander Francis Hughes, who staggered away from the scene only to be captured the next morning. The other IRA members fled unharmed. Jones' decision to break cover was criticised by 14 Intelligence Company instructors in the aftermath, as he had been told the area around Glenshane Pass was off-limits to regular soldiers.
• 10 June – IRA member Denis Heaney (21) was shot dead while attempting to hijack a car in Harvey Street, Derry; he was unaware it was occupied by a pair of operators from 14 Intelligence Company. The operator in the passenger side immediately opened fire with a MAC-10 and Heaney was struck by five bullets, 'killing him instantly'. An IRA comrade of Heaney fled the scene.
• 21 June - IRA members Denis Brown (28), William Mailey (30) and John Mulvenna (28), were killed by an SAS team as they unloaded explosives from a van at Ballysillan post office. The SAS were acting on a tip-off from an informant that an active service unit was planning to destroy the post office. A fourth IRA member escaped the scene. During the pursuit, the SAS unit confused him with a civilian passer-by, William Hanna (28), who was consequently shot dead. Due to the controversy caused by Hanna's death, the SAS was removed from Belfast. Senior RUC officers felt the death of Hanna 'could not be balanced out' by the destruction of an IRA unit.
• 11 July – John Boyle (16) was shot dead by two SAS soldiers from a four-man covert observation post in a graveyard in Dunloy, County Antrim. Boyle had returned to inspect an IRA arms cache he had recently discovered, which his father reported to police. Corporal Alan Bohan and Trooper Ron Temperly were charged with murder after pressure by the RUC, but acquitted in a case presided over by Lord Chief Justice Robert Lowry, who reasoned the possibility that Boyle had raised an armalite rifle in the direction of the SAS unit could not be discounted, which would have made the shooting legal.
• 11 August – Lance Corporal Alan Swift (25) of 14 Intelligence Company was killed by the IRA during routine surveillance work on Letterkenny Road, Derry. As Swift sat in his stationary car, at least two IRA members pulled up in a hijacked Toyota van and shot him multiple times with automatic weapons. Although members of 14 Intelligence Company had been killed previously on duty, this was the first time the IRA had carried out a targeted assassination against an operator.
• 30 September – James Taylor (23), a civilian, was killed by an operator from 14 Intelligence Company at Lough Neagh near Coagh, County Tyrone. Taylor and three companions had returned to their Land Rover at the end of a shooting exhibition to find the tires deflated. Believing a nearby pair of men in an unmarked car to be the vandals responsible, Taylor approached the vehicle after a chase and was shot dead by one of the undercover soldiers inside. The soldiers claimed Taylor had been carrying a shotgun as he moved towards them, which caused them to identify him as an IRA gunman. Friends of Taylor disputed this version of events.
• 24 November – IRA quartermaster Patrick Duffy (50) was shot dead by two SAS soldiers at approximately 21:20 in a house on Maureen Avenue in Derry. As Duffy examined weapons upstairs, the SAS pair emerged from a nearby bedroom and challenged him. Duffy instinctively turned round while holding a gun and was immediately killed. Bomb-making equipment was subsequently uncovered. The ruthlessness of the soldiers in this situation may have been influenced by the circumstances of the death earlier that year of Lance Corporal Jones.

1979

• 6 May 1979 – British Army soldier Sergeant Robert Maughan (30) and RUC officer Norman Prue (29), were both shot dead by the IRA while they conducted routine surveillance work outside of Holy Cross Church in Lisnaskea. Prue was killed as he left the unmarked stationary car to buy a copy of Republican News on sale close to the church gates (IRA surveillance had noticed police buying a copy every Sunday morning). Maughan was killed around the same time as he sat in the car.

1980s

1980

• 2 May – SAS Captain Herbert Westmacott (28) was killed during a shoot-out in Belfast with an IRA unit nicknamed the 'M60 Gang'. 14 Intelligence Company operators located the M60 Gang in a house on Antrim Road and an SAS squad was sent to engage. Westmacott ordered a three-man team to the rear of the building to cut off any escape (they caught one IRA member trying to enter a transit van). He led a five-man assault group, but was fatally wounded by machine-gun fire from inside. Pinned down, Westmacott's soldiers made a 'fighting withdrawal', dragging his body with them. As they prepared for a second assault, regular security forces converged on the scene; three remaining IRA members pushed the M60 to the ground and 'ran up a white flag' – they were taken into custody unharmed. Westmacott was the most senior SAS man to be killed in action during Operation Banner.

1981

• 28 May – IRA members George McBrearty (24) and Charles Maguire (20) were killed, and comrade Eamon McCourt seriously wounded, during a firefight with an operator from 14 Intelligence Company in Derry. An entire detachment of 14 Intelligence Company 'scrambled' to locate an IRA unit on their way to kill a security forces target. One operator left in a brown Opel Ascona despite it being 'blown' the day before, and was forced over at the junction of Lone Moor Road and Southways. As Maguire approached, he was shot twice in the head through the open car window. In front, McCourt opened fire with a rifle, but missed – the bullets exited the rear window and killed McBrearty instantly. McCourt was then shot five times through the shattered glass as he struggled with his gun. The IRA driver escaped the scene unhurt. The soldier received the Military Medal, but was also 'severely reprimanded' for driving a compromised vehicle.

1982

• 11 November 1982 – The killing of three unarmed IRA members at an RUC checkpoint in east Lurgan, County Armagh, gave rise to allegations of a shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland The volunteers killed were Sean Burns, Eugene Toman and Gervaise McKerr. It was later established they were killed by the RUC Special Patrol Group & the Headquarters Mobile Support Unit (HMSU) Three officers were acquitted of their murder in June 1984, the presiding judge, Lord Justice Maurice Gibson, commending them for their "courage and determination in bringing the three deceased men to justice – in this case, to the final court of justice."
• 24 November - The killing, by an RUC undercover unit, of Michael Tighe and the wounding of his friend Martin McCauley at an IRA arms cache on a farm near Lurgan, County Armagh, this killing provided more Sinn Féin propaganda for a shoot to kill policy.. (19 years later, McCauley was arrested in Colombia, accused by the Colombian authorities of teaching FARC guerillas in the use of explosives, in particular the "barrack buster").
• 12 December 1982 – At an RUC checkpoint in Mullacreevie, County Armagh, the same group of RUC SPG and HMSU that killed the three IRA Vols. in November, shot dead two of the INLA's Vols.Seamus Grew and Roddy Carroll. (The intended main target, Dominic McGlinchey, was not in their car as expected.) Just six days before this shooting the INLA carried out the Droppin Well bombing in County Londonderry killing 17 people, 11 soldiers and 6 civilians, it was the worst bombing in County Londonderry during the whole of the conflict from 1969 – 1998.

1983

• 2 February – INLA member Eugene McMonagle (24) was shot dead, and his comrade Liam Duffy seriously wounded, by Sergeant Paul Oram of 14 Intelligence Company at the Shantallow estate in Derry. Oram was trying to identify the exact location of a weapons cache from a small group of 'suspect houses' in Leafair Park when a suspicious Duffy drew a pistol and grabbed him. Resisting, Oram bundled Duffy to the ground, fired at and struck McMonagle, who was advancing towards the scene with an M1 Garand, then twice shot Duffy before he could recover. McMonagle was killed, while Duffy survived when he was treated by Army medics from the 'reactive force' that arrived in the aftermath. Duffy was later convicted of firearms offences.
• 4 December – IRA members Colm McGirr (23) and Brian Campbell (19) were shot dead, and a third comrade wounded, by soldiers from 14 Intelligence Company in a field near Clonoe, County Tyrone. McGirr was kneeling down and handing weapons from a hidden cache to Campbell, who then headed back towards the brown Talbot car that drove them to the site. An operator broke cover and challenged McGirr, still kneeling, who looked round while holding a shotgun and was immediately killed by bursts of fire from a HK53 rifle. Campbell started running and was dropped by two bullets. The 'cut-off' team opened fire on a third IRA member at the wheel of the car, who escaped despite being shot and wounded. A medic attempted an emergency tracheotomy on Campbell and inserted a plastic tube into his throat, but Campbell died minutes later.

1984

• 21 February – Sergeant Paul Oram (26) of 14 Intelligence Company and IRA members Henry Hogan (21) and Declan Martin (18) were killed in a shoot-out in Dunloy, County Antrim. Oram and a partner were conducting surveillance on Hogan's house when they were given away by light emanating from a nearby street lamp. Hogan, Martin, and an unnamed third IRA member tried to capture them. In the resulting exchange, Oram was killed, while his partner, Hogan, and Martin were all wounded (the third IRA man lost his nerve and fled without shooting). Trying to escape through a field, Hogan and Martin were mortally wounded by another operator responding to the initial gunfire.
• 2 December – Sergeant Alistair Slater (28) and IRA member Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde (27) were killed during a thwarted ambush in Kesh, County Fermanagh, while IRA member Ciaran Fleming (26) died escaping the scene. An SAS troop arrived in Kesh to intercept a gun and bomb attack. Confused by heavy fog, the soldiers stationed themselves just yards away from an IRA firing team waiting behind a hedge – with each faction unaware of the others presence due to poor visibility. Mac Giolla Bhrighde was spotted holding a command wire nearby and fled. Slater had stayed behind to guard the car; to help his colleagues find Mac Giolla Bhrighde, he lit up the area using a parachute flare. This gave away his position and he was mortally wounded by IRA gunmen, who then withdrew. Mac Giolla Bhrighde was captured, but reached for the rifle of his SAS guard and was shot dead. Fleming drowned attempting to cross the River Bannagh – the remaining IRA members surrendered. Further detail: Kesh ambush.
• 6 December – IRA members William Fleming (19) and Danny Doherty (23) were shot dead by 14 Intelligence Company operators in the grounds of Gransha Hospital, Derry. Fleming and Doherty were intending to assassinate an off-duty UDR soldier who worked there. An operator shadowing the pair rammed their motorcycle as they arrived, which knocked Fleming off. The same operator exited the vehicle and shot Fleming three times. Doherty attempted an escape but was cut-off by two more operators; they fired at Doherty repeatedly, causing him to crash. He was then shot a further six times.

1985

• '23 February – IRA members Charles Breslin (20), David Devine (17), and Michael Devine (22), were shot dead by operators from 14 Intelligence Company as they returned weapons to an arms cache in a field off Plumbridge Road, Strabane, County Tyrone. The undercover soldiers fired 117 rounds at their targets as they closed in using a 'classic fire-and-manoeuvre contact drill'. Further detail: Strabane ambush

1986

• 18 February – IRA member Francis Bradley (20) was shot dead by two SAS soldiers while retrieving weapons from a cache hidden behind a farmhouse at 60 Hillhead Road, Castledawson, County Londonderry. Bernard 'Barney' McLarnon (53), who had driven Bradley to the site, was later arrested. He was eventually released because he could not be 'conclusively linked to any terrorist organisation'.
• 26 April – IRA commander Séamus McElwaine (25) was shot dead by the SAS while preparing an ambush at 4:30am near Rosslea, County Fermanagh. Another IRA member, Sean Lynch, was seriously wounded. Claims made by Lynch that McElwaine was interrogated before being 'executed' were 'comprehensively denied' by the soldiers involved.

1987

• 8 May 1987 - Loughgall Ambush – The IRA suffered it's heaviest lost since 1921 when it was ambushed at Loughgall police station by the SAS following a tip off giving information about the planned attack.It was one of the most experienced IRA units ever assembled including Volunteers like Jim Lynagh, Pádraig McKearney and Patrick Joseph Kelly who were all over 30 years of age at the time of the ambush, and who had carried out many high-profile actions before like the Attack on Ballygawley barracks, the Attack on RUC Birches barracks and the deaths of Norman Stronge and his son along with the burning of Tynan Abbey. A civilian called Oliver Hughes was caught up in the ambush and shot dead as well, his brother who was driving with him was also badly injured. Three SAS soldiers and two constables were wounded.
• 26 August 1987 - Volunteers from the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade shot dead two on-duty plainclothes RUC officers at a bar, in the docks area of Belfast. One of the officers was a Protestant the other a Catholic. The IRA released a statement after the killings claiming the officers were part of the RUC Special Branch and that day they were carrying out surveillance on Republicans.

1988

• 6 March - Operation Flavius – Three unarmed IRA Volunteers were killed in Gibraltar by the SAS, those killed were Seán Savage, Daniel McCann, and Mairéad Farrell (all senior members of Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade)
• 19 March – Corporals killings – Undercover British Army corporals Derek Wood and David Howes were attacked by a mob at an IRA funeral in Belfast and shot dead on waste ground by the IRA.
• 4 July – The SAS shot dead Protestant civilian Kenneth Stronge while driving his taxi past North Queen Street RUC station.
• 30 August - Ambush at Drumnakilly – Three IRA Volunteers were ambushed by the SAS while trying to carry out a killing of a UDR soldier. Those killed were brothers Gerard (29 years old) and Martin Harte (23), and their brother-in-law Brian Mullin (26) all from the East Tyrone Brigade.

1989

• 2 September 1989 – A female undercover British soldier shot dead Ulster Volunteer Force member Brian Robinson after he and another UVF member shot and killed a Catholic civilian on Crumlin Road in Belfast and made an escape on motor bike.

1990s

1990

• 13 January 1990 - Three Catholic men with no paramilitary links or political affiliation who were in the process of escaping after robbing a shop were shot dead by an undercover British army unit in west Belfast.
• 24 March – a gun battle erupted between an IRA unit and undercover British forces at Cappagh, County Tyrone, when a civilian-type vehicle driven by an undercover agent was fired on by IRA volunteers without warning, according to Archie Hamilton, then Secretary of State for Defence. Hamilton stated that there were no British casualties.
• 6 May – Operation Conservation -a British soldier was shot dead when an IRA unit launched a machine gun attack on a British Army observation post near Cullyhanna, County Armagh, during an undercover operation to lure an IRA unit into an ambush. The patrol's survivors were airlifted to safety.
• 9 October – Two of the IRA's most wanted men Martin McCaughey and Dessie Grew were ambushed and shot dead by 14 Intelligence Company while returning weapons back to an arms cache in a field at Loughgall.
• 22 November – Undercover British soldiers shot dead INLA volunteer Alexander Patterson as he tried to assassinate an off-duty soldier in Strabane.

1991

• 3 June 1991 - Coagh ambush – Three IRA Volunteers, Tony Doris (21 years old), Michael "Pete" Ryan (37) (on the run at the time from the RUC since 1981) and Lawrence McNally (39), all from the East Tyrone Brigade were shot and killed by the SAS in ambush using a UDR soldier a bait and a decoy for the unit to attack.

1992

• 16 February 1992 - Clonoe ambush – Two IRA active service units attacked an RUC station in Coalisland, County Tyrone, with heavy machine guns and assault rifles, all volunteers were from the East Tyrone Brigade. One of the units was ambushed by the SAS shortly after firing on the RUC base. The Volunteers killed were Patrick Vincent (20 years of age), was shot dead with five bullets whilst still in its cab. Peter Clancy (19) (hit by ten bullets) and Kevin O'Donnell (21) (shot twice) were killed whilst dismounting the DShk on the back of the lorry, Sean O'Farrell (23) was pursued on foot across the church grounds over a distance of 100 yards before being shot dead with five bullets.
• 25 November – Unarmed Provisional IRA Volunteer Pearse Jordan was shot dead on the Falls Road, Belfast, by an undercover RUC mobile patrol unit. Jordan was given no chance to surrender.

1993

• 12 December 1993 – Fivemiletown ambush - IRA volunteers from the East Tyrone Brigade ambushed and killed two RUC officers (Constables Andrew Beacom and Ernest Smith) while patrolling on a civilian-type car in Fivemiletown, County Tyrone. The men were part of the RUC Operational Support Unit, which surveilled the Irish border along with the British Army. The unmarked patrol car was on Main Street when it was hit by at least 20 shots from both sides of the road. In a follow up operation a British Army Lynx helicopter received automatic fire from an IRA unit.

1997

• 26 March – 1997 Coalisland attack – Undercover British soldiers shot and seriously injured 19 year-old republican Gareth Doris just seconds after a 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) home-made bomb was thrown by IRA volunteers to the Army/RUC base at Coalisland, County Tyrone, blowing a hole through the barracks fence. The soldiers left the scene under the protection of the RUC after being cornered by a crowd of civilian residents and after firing shots in the air. Two women were wounded by plastic bullets fired by RUC officers.
• 10 April – a group of 16 undercover SAS members restrained four IRA volunteers, part of one of the two sniper teams which operated in South Armagh and handed them over to the RUC, after tracking the IRA men to a farm complex. The owner of the farm and two other men were also arrested, but were released on 17 April. Given the imminence of a second IRA ceasefire and the prospective of a political solution to the conflict, the SAS were under strict orders to avoid IRA casualties.
• 10 June – an active service unit from the IRA's Derry Brigade riding on a van fired upon undercover soldiers on a stationary van on the west side of the river Foyle in Derry. An intensive search recovered the attackers' van at Glendara Park but failed to round up any suspects. No injuries were reported, but 30 families were evacuated from the area as army technical experts performed forensic examinations on the abandoned vehicle.

1998

• 14 January – there was a friendly-fire incident between an RUC patrol and two unmarked British Army vehicles in Belfast after the two civilian-type cars were chased by the RUC. One of the cars crashed at the junction of Crumlin Road and Antrim Road. A female soldier in plain clothes shot and seriously wounded an RUC member in the chest as his patrol approached the vehicle.