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The Claudy bombing occurred on 31 July 1972, when three car bombs exploded mid-morning on the Main Street of Claudy in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The attack killed nine civilians, and became known as "Bloody Monday". Those who planted the bombs had attempted to send a warning before the explosions took place. The warning was delayed, however, because the telephones were out of order due to an earlier bomb attack.〔 The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued an immediate denial of responsibility,〔〔 Archived article at HighBeam Research〕 and later claimed that "an internal court of inquiry" had found that its local unit did not carry out the attack. On 24 August 2010, following an eight-year investigation, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland published a report into the bombing, which stated that the Royal Ulster Constabulary believed in the early 1970s that Father James Chesney, a local Roman Catholic priest, was the IRA's quartermaster and Director of Operations of the South Derry Brigade. The report found that the possibility of his involvement in activities including the Claudy bombing was covered up by senior police officers, government ministers and the Roman Catholic hierarchy. On the 40th anniversary of the bombing, former Provisional IRA leader Martin McGuinness described the events of that day as "appalling and indefensible" and "inflicted on totally innocent people"〔(IRA bomb in Claudy was indefensible, says Martin McGuinness | UK news ). ''The Guardian''.〕 ==Bombing== On 31 July 1972 at about 4:00 am, the British Army had begun Operation Motorman. This was an operation to regain control of the "no-go areas" (areas controlled by Irish republican paramilitaries) that had been established in Belfast and Derry. The bombing of Claudy may have been a response to this operation.〔 Shortly before 10:00 am, three car bombs were placed in the centre of the village, which was busy with shoppers at the time. Initial police investigations found that a car was seen travelling from Claudy at 10:00. It had stopped at the nearby village of Feeny, where a passenger tried to use the public telephone box, which was out-of-order. The car then travelled to Dungiven where it stopped on the Main Street. Two men got out and went into separate shops to use the telephones, which were also out of order following a bomb attack at the local telephone exchange. The men then asked the shop assistants to tell the police at Dungiven that there were three bombs in Claudy, but by this time the first bomb had already detonated.〔(Public statement by the Police Ombudsman under section 62 of the Police (NI) Act 1998 ) Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, 24 August 2010〕 The first bomb, hidden inside a stolen Ford Cortina, exploded at 10:15 outside McElhinney's bar and store on Main Street.〔 Six people were killed by this bomb; among the dead were an eight-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy. A second bomb, hidden inside a stolen Morris Mini Van parked outside the post office on Main Street,〔 was spotted by a police officer, who then began directing people away from the area towards Church Street. At 10:30, a bomb hidden inside a stolen Mini Van detonated outside the Beaufort Hotel on Church Street.〔 The bomb outside the post office exploded almost simultaneously, killing three people, including a 16-year-old boy injured in the first blast.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Claudy bombing」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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