Coagh ambush

Coagh ambush
Part of the Troubles and Operation Banner
Coagh as seen from County Londonderry
Date 3 June 1991 Location Coagh, County Tyrone Northern Ireland 54°38′49″N 6°37′03″W / 54.64694°N 6.61750°W / 54.64694; -6.61750Coordinates: 54°38′49″N 6°37′03″W / 54.64694°N 6.61750°W / 54.64694; -6.61750 Result SAS success
Belligerents
Provisional IRA	United Kingdom British Army (SAS)
Strength
3 volunteers	8 soldiers
Casualties and losses
3 killed	none
Location within Northern Ireland

 United Kingdom

The Coagh ambush took place on 3 June 1991, when a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) unit from the East Tyrone Brigade was ambushed by the Special Air Service (SAS) in the village of Coagh, County Tyrone. The three-man IRA team was on its way to kill a part-time member of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR). Eight SAS members opened fire on the IRA unit's car, killing the three men and causing the car to burst into flames.

In May 1987, an eight-man unit of the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade was ambushed and shot dead by a Special Air Service (SAS) unit seconds after bombing the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base at Loughgall, County Armagh. The SAS also killed a civilian who had accidentally driven into the ambush. This was the IRA's greatest loss of life in a single incident during its campaign. Despite this major setback, IRA activity in East Tyrone didn't lessen in the following years.

In August 1988, the SAS shot dead another three IRA members who were stalking a UDR soldier near Carrickmore. British intelligence sources claimed the men were involved in the Ballygawley bus bombing, which killed eight British soldiers and injured 28. The British military had to ferry its troops in and out of East Tyrone by helicopter as result of the Ballygawley bombing.