Alarm over I.R.A. grenade

Press, 29 January 1988, Page 6

Alarm over I.R.A. grenade

NZPA-Reuter Belfast Security authorities in Northern Ireland are alarmed by a new I.R.A. hand grenade that can pierce armour-plated metal, and have ordered the police to shoot on sight anyone throwing the compact but deadly weapon. The hand-held, coneshaped grenade, packed with plastic explosive, claimed its first victim on Monday, when a young constable was killed in a grenade attack on a police vehicle patrolling Belfast. The Northern Ireland police chief, Sir John Hermon, has ordered his officers to shoot anyone seen throwing the grenades. “We will not allow members of this community or members of the security forces to be murdered with a dastardly weapon such as that with impunity,” Sir John told reporters on Tuesday. The Irish Republican Army, fighting to oust Britain from Northern Ireland, has taken 12 months to perfect the improvised grenade, which security chiefs fear is more powerful than Soviet-made RPG7 antitank rockets. One policeman who survived' a recent grenade attack in Belfast said: “Our Land-rover was ripped open like a can of sardines.” The grenade is made from plastic explosive crammed into a tin with a stick as a handle. It is then tied to a dustbin liner which opens like a parachute, giving it stability in flight. The grenade’s cone-shaped metal nose, which must hit the target to detonate, vapourises on impact and blasts through the armour-plat-ing.