|
The South Armagh Sniper is the generic name〔"At first, we believed it was one unit, one weapon and one trigger man (...) It developed into at least two". A former SAS warrant officer, quoted by Harnden (Harnden 2000, p. 400).〕 given to the members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army's (IRA) South Armagh Brigade who conducted a sniping campaign against British security forces from 1990 to 1997. The campaign is notable for the snipers' use of .50 BMG calibre Barrett M82 and M90 long-range rifles in some of the shootings. == Origins == One of the first leaders of the Provisional IRA, Seán Mac Stíofáin, supported the use of snipers in his book ''Memories of a Revolutionary'', attracted by the motto "one shot, one kill".〔Harnden 2000, p. 406.〕 The majority of soldiers shot dead in 1972 (the bloodiest year of the conflict in Northern Ireland) fell victim to IRA snipers.〔"In 1971, the Provisional IRA shot dead forty-two British soldiers. In 1972, this figure rose to sixty-four, most of them killed by snipers" (Taylor 1999, p. 132).〕 About 180 British soldiers, Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers and Her Majesty's Prison Service prison staff members were killed in this way from 1971 to 1991.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Sutton index of deaths )〕 The AR-18 Armalite rifle became the weapon of choice for IRA members at this time.〔Taylor 1999, pp. 108–109.〕 The British Army assessment of the conflict asserted that the IRA sniping skills often did not match those expected from a well-trained sniper.〔"Gunmen were often described as 'snipers' but very rarely did any terrorist display the skills of a properly trained sniper" (Jackson 2006, paragraph ?).〕 The report identifies four different patterns of small arms attacks during the IRA campaign, the last being that developed by the South Armagh sniper units.〔Jackson 2006, paragraphs 527–530.〕 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「South Armagh Sniper (1990–97)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|