2 Catholics Die in Belfast Gun, Grenade Attack
BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Two Catholics were killed and 13 people were injured Saturday when Protestant extremists burst into a crowded Belfast betting shop, opened fire with a machine gun and lobbed a grenade into the building.
The Ulster Freedom Fighters issued a statement in Dublin saying it carried out the attack on the bookmaker’s shop in a predominantly Catholic area of Belfast in retaliation for an Irish Republican Army bombing hours earlier.
Witnesses said one gunman mowed down customers and a second man threw the grenade, which blew out the front of the shop. Police said three were injured seriously.
The betting shop on Old Park Road was packed with gamblers when the gunmen struck.
“There were bodies everywhere,†said a Roman Catholic nun, shaking with emotion after helping to treat the injured. “It was the worst sight I have seen in my life. It was gruesome, appalling. I just cannot understand why people would do this.â€
A senior police officer, calling the attack sectarian, said: “It was absolutely diabolical. Nobody stood a chance in there. It is horrific. I have never seen anything like it.â€
The attack was a virtual carbon copy of an assault by the Ulster Freedom Fighters in February on a Belfast betting shop in which five people were killed.
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