Occupation of Cullaville
| Occupation of Cullaville | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Troubles | |
 |
|
 |
|
| Location | Cullaville, County Armagh, Northern Ireland |
| Coordinates | 54°03′43.20″N 6°38′38.12″W / 54.0620000°N 6.6439222°WCoordinates: 54°03′43.20″N 6°38′38.12″W / 54.0620000°N 6.6439222°W |
| Date | 22 April 1993 17:00 (UTC) |
|
Attack type
|
Armed occupation |
| Weapons | Assault rifles, heavy machine guns, 1 sniper rifle, 1 rocket launcher |
The occupation of Cullaville took place on 22 April 1993, when 12 armed members of the South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional IRA set up a checkpoint on the main crossroads of Cullaville, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, isolating the small village for a two-hour period, despite the presence of a British Army watchtower some yards away. The IRA men withdrew before the security forces in the area could react.
Since the mid-1970s, the British Army had ceased using roads in south County Armagh because of the threat of culvert mines and almost all military movement including minor and major operations, especially the resupply of security bases, had to be carried out by helicopter. In February 1974, up to 20 members of the Provisional IRA had briefly set up a checkpoint at Cullaville with the specific purpose of defusing a bomb planted by them eight days before in a local supermarket, which the Welsh Guards had failed to find earlier. British efforts to prevent illegal roadblocks in South Armagh were thwarted by the IRA during the 1981 Irish hunger strike, when a covert observation post was ambushed and a Royal Green Jackets soldier was killed. In 1984 the British Army began the building of 12 surveillance watchtowers along the border between County Armagh and the Republic of Ireland, with the aim of hindering the IRA's freedom of movement. The airlift of materials and personnel involved was the largest airborne operation of the British Army since D day in World War II. A member of the IRA in South Armagh later told author Toby Harnden that the group had made a detailed study of the watchtowers' blind spots, and they had concluded that the outposts could surveil only 35 per cent of the area in good weather conditions. On 1 October 1992, 15 IRA members, armed with rifles and machine guns, set up a number of checkpoints around the south Armagh's village of Meigh without interference from British security forces.
...
Wikipedia