Downing Street Mortar Attack The Downing Street mortar attack was carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 7 February 1991. The IRA launched three homemade mortar shells at 10 Downing Street, London, the headquarters of the British government, in an attempt to assassinate Prime Minister John Major and his war cabinet, who were meeting to discuss the Gulf War. One of the 140 pound (64 kg)…
Tag: PIRA
History of Guerilla Warfare: IRA Guerilla Gunmsiths and the “Shipyard Special”
At the height of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, both the Republicans and Loyalists were desperate for any weapons they could lay their hands on. These weapons ranged from smuggled AR-18s — infamously nicknamed Widowmakers — to crude but ingenious improvised weapons such as the submachine gun pictured above. These improvised weapons took the STEN as their basis. They…
Learning from Insurgent Tactics: The “Hide n’ Glide”
Since the War in Afghanistan and Iraq began, we have seen a multitude of different “insurgent” tactics come to light, the most notable (and deadly) ones being the use of the IED and VBIED (Vehicle Born IED’s) in ambushes, booby-traps and suicide attacks. But as far as actual ground tactics the enemy uses, there…