Police hunt for 'Real IRA' gunmen

An intense police operation has been mounted at the barracks

A huge manhunt is under way for the gunmen who murdered two soldiers at an army barracks in County Antrim.

A Dublin-based newspaper received a call supposedly from the dissident republican group the Real IRA saying it carried out the Massereene shooting.

Four other people, including two pizza delivery men, were also injured when gunmen struck at the Antrim base.

Whitehall sources have told BBC News that a small number of dissident republicans pose a significant threat.

The soldiers were the first to be murdered in Northern Ireland since Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick was killed by an IRA sniper in 1997.

The dead men, both in their early 20s, were due to fly to Afghanistan in the coming days.

All four injured men are being treated at Antrim Area Hospital, about a mile away from the scene.

Of those who were injured, three are in a serious condition and another is said to be serious but stable.

The attack has forced a review of security at police and military bases in Northern Ireland.

Pool of expertise

Whitehall officials say MI5 has been increasing its resources devoted to counter-terrorism in Northern Ireland.

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BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said the threat level from Northern Ireland had been raised to severe, meaning an attack was likely, and officials were concerned at what they called the dissidents' wide spectrum of attack methodology - ranging from shootings to car bombs.

The actual number of dissident republicans is believed to be around 100.

But our correspondent said they are believed to have a significant pool of expertise left over from the 1990s, while actively trying to recruit new members.

Innocent party

Police are examining a car in Randalstown, five miles from the army base, which they suspect may have been used by the gunmen.

The area surrounding the barracks, which is home to 38 Engineer Regiment, has been sealed off.

HOW THE ATTACKS HAPPENED 1. Soldiers order pizza from delivery shop in Antrim. Two cars leave shop at about 2120 GMT 2. Four soldiers collect pizza from main gate at Massereene Barracks. As they do, two gunmen open fire from a nearby car. Two soldiers are killed, four people seriously injured including the pizza delivery men 3. Vauxhall Cavalier which police believe the gunmen to have used recovered in Ranaghan Lane, nr Randalstown How the barracks attack happened

Bullet-riddled cars driven by the delivery men are still at the scene.

Detectives believe at least three attackers were involved, and officers have been stopping motorists trying to find anyone who saw something suspicious.

Chief superintendent Derek Williamson said the pizza delivery men were an innocent party and both were among those injured.

He said: "There's no doubt whatsoever in my mind that this was an attempt at mass murder."

'No support'

The Real IRA was born out of a split in the mainstream Provisional IRA in October 1997.

It carried out Northern Ireland's worst atrocity when it bombed the County Tyrone town of Omagh, killing 29 people, in August 1998.

The chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland has said he did not believe the attack was a response to him deploying special forces soldiers to gather intelligence on dissident activity.

He added he had no plans to deploy additional military personnel.

"The police deliver policing in Northern Ireland, and that is exactly how it is going to stay," he said.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, a former IRA member, said nobody should say or do anything which would see Northern Ireland return to its troubles.

"I supported the IRA during the conflict, I myself was a member of the IRA but that war is over," said the Sinn Fein MP.

"Now the people responsible for that last night's incident are clearly signalling that they want to resume or restart that war."

Martin McGuinness: "No chance of bringing the peace process down"

Northern Ireland's First Minister and Democratic Unionist Party leader Peter Robinson offered his sympathies to the families of the victims, and said he and the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness would postpone a scheduled trip to the United States.

Mr Robinson said the attack was a "terrible reminder of the events of the past".

He said information that those responsible had "deliberately turned their weapons on civilians" after murdering the soldiers gave an "idea of the crazed gunmen involved in this".

"It is the duty of everyone to ensure these people are defeated," he said.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown described the attack as "evil" and said "no murderer" would derail the peace process.

Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward condemned the shootings as "an act of criminal barbarism".

Loyalist political representatives made a plea to people within their communities not to retaliate.

A spokesman for the US Department of State offered condolences to the families of the soldiers.