List of loyalist false flag operations at the start of the Troubles in the United Kingdom
Date | Group Responsible | Attack | Claimed Perpetrator at the Time | Later-Confirmed Truth |
Jun-66 | UVF | Murder of John Scullion (Catholic civilian) | IRA internal feud | UVF sectarian killing |
Jun-66 | UVF | Petrol bombing that killed Matilda Gould (Protestant civilian) | Republican arsonists | UVF bungled attack on Catholic home |
Jul-66 | UVF | Murder of Peter Ward (Catholic civilian) | IRA gunmen | UVF sectarian killing |
March – July 1969 | UVF / UPV | Bombings of waterworks, power stations, transport infrastructure in NI | IRA sabotage | Loyalist campaign to discredit Civil Rights movement |
March – July 1969 | UVF / UPV | Bombings in Republic (Wolfe Tone monument, Daniel O’Connell monument, RTÉ, Ballyshannon power station) | IRA attacks on symbolic and strategic targets | UVF loyalist false flag; Ballyshannon exposed operation |
Oct-69 | Loyalists (Shankill Rd gunmen) | Killing of RUC Constable Victor Arbuckle | IRA sniper | Shot by loyalists during riot |
1972-1973 | UDA (as ‘Ulster Freedom Fighters’) | Sectarian shootings and bombings | UFF (portrayed as separate organisation) | UDA cover name to maintain legal status |
Early 1970s | British Army MRF | Drive-by shootings in nationalist areas | Loyalist paramilitaries or IRA feuds | Undercover British soldiers conducting deniable operations |
