1 R IRISH mortared at Rosslea

After five weeks deployed along the border with the Republic of Ireland, terrorists once again attacked members of 1st Battalion Royal Irish Rangers.

Three home made Mark 10 mortar bombs were fired at RUC Rosslea in County Fermanagh, which was occupied by 7 Platoon, B Company. The mortars were held in a four tube rack mounted on a tractor which had been stolen by the terrorists earlier in the day.

In the darkness the tractor was driven into a small wood 100 metres south of the joint Army/RUC base. Two of the bombs exploded prior to impact, scattering shrapnel over a wide area, whilst the third bomb failed to explode.

Fortunately there were no casualties although an elderly woman in the village of Rosslea subsequently died of a heart attack as a result of being evacuated from her home. This was the second terrorist mortar attack against the Battalion since their deployment to the Province.