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The Kingsmill massacre took place on 5 January 1976 near the village of Kingsmill in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Gunmen stopped eleven Ulster Protestant workmen travelling on a minibus, lined them up beside it and shot them. A Catholic workman was unharmed. One of the shot men survived, despite having been shot 18 times.〔(1976: Ten dead in Northern Ireland ambush ).〕 A group calling itself the South Armagh Republican Action Force claimed responsibility and said the attack was retaliation for the killing of six Catholics the night before.〔 The Kingsmill massacre was the deadliest and last in a string of tit-for-tat killings in the area during the mid-1970s. A 2011 report by the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) found that members of the Provisional IRA carried out the attack despite the organisation being on ceasefire. It has been claimed that the IRA members acted without the sanction of the IRA Army Council. The HET report said that the men were targeted because they were Protestants and that, although it was a response to the night before, it had been planned some time in advance.〔 The weapons were linked to another 110 attacks. ==Background== On 10 February 1975, the Provisional IRA and British government entered into a truce and restarted negotiations. The IRA agreed to halt attacks on the British security forces, and the security forces mostly ended its raids and searches.〔(Extracts from ''The Longest War: Northern Ireland and the IRA'' by Kevin J. Kelley ). Zed Books Ltd, 1988. Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN)〕 However, there were dissenters on both sides. Some Provisionals wanted no part of the truce, while British commanders resented being told to stop their operations against the IRA just when—they claimed—they had the Provisionals on the run.〔 The security forces boosted their intelligence offensive during the truce and thoroughly infiltrated the IRA.〔 There was a rise in sectarian killings during the truce, which 'officially' lasted until February 1976. Loyalists, fearing they were about to be forsaken by the British government and forced into a united Ireland,〔Taylor, Peter (1999). ''Loyalists''. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. p.142〕 increased their attacks on Irish Catholics/nationalists. Loyalists killed 120 Catholics in 1975, the vast majority civilians.〔Taylor, Peter. ''Brits: The War Against the IRA''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2001. p.182〕 They hoped to force the IRA to retaliate and thus hasten an end to the truce.〔 Under orders not to engage the security forces, some IRA units concentrated on tackling the loyalists. The fall-off of regular operations had caused serious problems of internal discipline and some IRA members, with or without permission from higher up, engaged in tit-for-tat killings.〔 Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) members, and current or former members of the Official IRA, were also involved.〔 Between the beginning of the truce (10 February 1975) and the Kingsmill massacre, loyalist paramilitaries killed 25 Catholic civilians in County Armagh and just over the border in County Louth.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Sutton's Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland: 1975 )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Sutton's Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland: 1976 )〕 In that same period, republican paramilitaries killed 14 Protestant civilians and 16 members of the security forces in County Armagh.〔 *On 1 September, five Protestant civilians were killed by masked gunmen at Tullyvallan Orange Hall near Newtownhamilton. The attack was claimed by a group calling itself the "South Armagh Republican Action Force".〔 This was the first time the name had been used. *On 19 December, loyalists detonated a car bomb at Kay's Tavern in Dundalk, a few miles across the Irish border. No warning was given beforehand and two civilians were killed.〔 Later that day, three Catholic civilians were killed and six were wounded in a gun and grenade attack on Donnelly's Bar in Silverbridge. The "Red Hand Commandos" claimed responsibility for both attacks.〔 Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers investigating the attack said they believed the culprits included an RUC officer and a British soldier from the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR).〔("Interim report on the report of the Independent Commission of Enquiry into the bombing of Kay's Tavern, Dundalk" ) - Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights - Houses of the Oireachtas, pp. 101-103〕 *On 31 December, three Protestant civilians were killed in an explosion at the Central Bar, Gilford. The "People's Republican Army" claimed responsibility.〔 It is believed this was a cover name used by members of the INLA.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=CAIN – Acronyms – INLA )〕 *Four days later, on 4 January 1976, the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade shot dead six Catholic civilians in two co-ordinated attacks. They killed three members of the Reavey family in Whitecross and three members of the O'Dowd family in Ballydougan, within twenty minutes of each other. ''The Irish News'' reported that the killings were in revenge for the bombing in Gilford.〔David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney and Chris Thornton (1999), ''Lost Lives''. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing, pp.606, 609〕 RUC officer Billy McCaughey admitted taking part and accused another officer of being involved.〔 His colleague, John Weir, said that two police officers and a British soldier were involved.〔 The HET report found that while the massacre was in "direct response" to the Reavey and O'Dowd killings, the attack was planned before that: "The murderous attacks on the Reavey and O’Dowd families were simply the catalyst for the premeditated and calculated slaughter of these innocent and defenceless men". 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「Kingsmill massacre」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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