Irish terrorism at its best

[NutLoose]

Not the brightest spark in the box

Device exploded in bomber's face after he 'forgot about clocks changing' - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ireland/10739277/Device-exploded-in-bombers-face-after-he-forgot-about-clocks-changing.html)


One can only hope he is passing his horology skills onto others :D


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[Ian Corrigible]

What a shame. Almost a Darwin Awards candidate...

I/C

[Just a spotter]

While this incident possibly has a humours twist, there currently is a very serious problem in urban centres around the country were a turf war has been running between a number of different gangs and also "dissident" republican groups who are all trying to grab as much of the protection racket and drugs supply.

Tit-for-tat shootings are not uncommon and IED's are becoming a more regular feature. Former "subversives" who have found themselves redundant since the Northern peace process kicked off are believed to have been selling their wares to the groups.

Only a matter of time before something very nasty happens.:(

JAS

[500N]

Just

Thanks for that. I was wondering who, what and why considering the supposed peace process.

Re "have been selling their wares to the groups." this guy probably won't be have that many buyers for his skills anymore ;) :O

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

I can't help but wonder how much of the stuff that was "placed beyond use" actually was.

[500N]

"Placed beyond use" until someone wants to use it again ;)

[superq7]

The coward got his comeuppance good serves him right, scrote.

[ericferret]

Reminds me of the lads who fired an RPG 7 at an army post from a car. They forgot to wind down the window behind them and got rather fried by the backblast.

[Danny42C]

"Oh, 'tis good to see the Engineer
Hoist with his own Petard" :ok: (Shakespeare, somewhere or other)

[500N]

The BBDA ;) :O

You only forget it once !!!



I wouldn't fire an RPG from a car anyway, even with the window down !

Or a 66mm SRAAW for that matter and that is a lot more "manageable" inside a car !

[Just a spotter]

@500N

not a problem. WRT to the individual in question, from what I understand, the MO is order your package, arrange collection/drop off and "deliver" to the target yourself (or via personal goon).

Again, from what I can gather, it's unlikely that the 'active ingredient' in the device is from a stockpile or undeclared sources. Easy enough to cook up something to make a pipe bomb or similar.

FWIW, the Ordinance guys (aka Bomb Squad) had, by the end of March 2014 been called out to 34 incidents at least 15 of which involved what where termed viable devices. In 2013 there were over 250 call outs, although a number did involve a rash of calls that involved unstable chemicals in school labs .... (nothing sinister, just out of date stuff that needed controlled disposal).

JAS

[Melchett01]

Or a 66mm SRAAW for that matter and that is a lot more "manageable" inside a car

Having been behind the wheel when a belt-fed Minimi was fired out of the boot, I wouldn't recommend firing anything out of a moving vehicle. We were finding empty casings in random places for days and the ringing in my ears went on all day! Damn good fun though.

Still, back to the thread, it's not uncommon for a bomber to blow himself up. It's either Darwinism at work - as here, or the fact that they've built a bodge job which is unstable and when combined with agricultural handling (there's a phrase that takes me back!) it is a recipe for disaster.

It reminds me of some AC130 footage I saw a few years back - it's probably on You Tube now - of an insurgent IED team burying an IED which went boom prematurely. There was one survivor who had been stood away from the rest and who was seen to be marginally less than happy at rummaging through the smoking hole to see what was left.

[M609]

Lots on youtube....like this..... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCSxara3l9I)

[HAS59]

it's all vey amusing to laugh at the own goals scored by the few hot heads however ...
there were many of us who served in the province in the 70's arriving with the 'Irish Jokes' from the TV comedians fresh in our minds, imagining we were facing a dim witted opponent.
Nothing could have been further from the truth, we faced a ruthless determined highly organised enemy with a multi-layered intelligence collecting ability. Yes there were fools, like the RPG-7 pair down in Newcastle, and the pair in Belfast who hit a bump in the road and the peg fell out of their IED initiating instant martyrdom. But these were few compared to the devious and cunning plans which worked. We had a long hard road to take to even begin to understand what we were facing. ... and still the Irish jokes abound.
It wasn't always funny ...

[racedo]

I can't help but wonder how much of the stuff that was "placed beyond use" actually was.

Majority if not all that was held in storage I believe was. Any found not causes major issues.
No doubt there were weapons which had gone missing over time but then again that is prevalent in even the most secure military bases so would not be unexpected.

Acquiring new weapons or explosives isn't really that hard across Europe or making them up given the technology and know how is out there.

[Tankertrashnav]

Placed beyond use" until someone wants to use it again ;)


I always thought that "placed beyond use" could be used as a definition of weasel words. Of course there was never a chance in a million years that the bad guys on both sides were going to give up their armouries for public destruction, hence this term which can mean anything - how about "on the top of the wardrobe, right at the back" :*

[Hangar6]

Yes agreed placed beyond use are words of little meaning and suggest weapons
Are still at hand , ok safe on top of the wardrobe from your average 5ft 2in squaddie, the words came from two weasels Aherne and Blair,

Both sides were evil cowards convinced foolishly of their
Mandate but the terrorists and crown forces didn't win
Cowards and scumbags on both sides ! I don't laugh at fools in armies uniformed or otherwise getting blown up , but well maybe it's one less bad guy ...

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Ooh; getting comfy, popcorn handy, beer poured and standing by.

[Hangarshuffle]

..GBZ...according to Sky News tonight, McGuiness has been invited to one of the houses of HM Queen for a banquet or trough-in or summat. More than the loikes of many medal decorated I ever got..but there we are. Thick Oirish terrorism pays....

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Don't tell I, tell 'e; the other Hangar wallah.

[ericferret]

HAS 59

I would second your comments. Sadly I remember a couple of airtechs who went out to an aircraft and used the same road to return and never made it home. I also remember wandering about in the Ensikillen area in 1976 and to this day my blood runs cold at the thought of how stupid we were and how lucky. I suspect that if the IRA did spot us they probably thought it was a trap as nobody in their right minds would be where we ended up.