Ceasefire monitors report a reduction in IRA activity
The body set up to monitor paramilitary ceasefires in the North has reported a reduction in paramilitary activity by the Provisional IRA, but said there was no sign that it was winding down its organisation.
In its latest report to the Irish and British governments, which was published today, the Independent Monitoring Commission said the number of punishment attacks by the Provisional IRA had fallen in recent months.
It also said the organisation was not involved in any recent murders and appeared to have suspended action against people in republican areas whom it believed were involving in anti-social behaviour.
However, the report added: "We saw no signs of the PIRA winding down its capability. It continued to recruit, though in small numbers, and to gather intelligence."
The IMC also said the IRA appeared to be involved in criminal activity, including a robbery on the outskirts of Belfast in May.
On the loyalist side, the IMC said the Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Volunteer Force both showed a greater capacity for violence and were involved in paramilitary shootings and punishment attacks in the period between the end of February and September.
Both groups were also found to be involved in organised crime and drugs, while the UDA was blamed for a sectarian attack on three Catholic men in August and the UVF was accused of involvement in two paramilitary murders, attacks on the nationalist community and a racist campaign of intimidation against ethnic minorities in Belfast.
The Real IRA, meanwhile, was blamed for a series of letter bomb attack and threats against nationalists co-operating with the North’s new policing arrangements, as well as prison officers and senior politicians.
It was also accused of forcing a person into exile and of launching a gun attack on a PSNI station in September, as well as smuggling and other non-paramilitary crime.
The IMC said the Real IRA was trying to improve its intelligence gathering, bomb-making capability and access to weaponry and “will continue to be active, even if its capabilities do not always match its aspirations”.
