Terrorism England

The Irish Republican Army claimed responsibility Friday for planting two bombs that disrupted rail service in northern England and broke a nine-month lull in bombings on mainland Britain. The admission heightened fears that the outlawed guerrilla group is embarking on a bombing campaign ahead of Britain's general elections May 1.

Irish terrorists sent fresh signals of frustration and defiance Wednesday with two bomb blasts--and possibly three--that punctuated a national election campaign and saluted a key anniversary of the republican struggle against British rule. One explosion occurred Wednesday night outside a police station in Northern Ireland, and first reports said one man had been critically injured.

Al Hayat is in trouble again, but there is still life despite threats to one of the Arab world's most influential newspapers. After decades of political pressure, violence and exile, the London-edited Arab-language daily is enduring a new campaign of terror.

A mysterious letter-bomb campaign apparently aimed at an Arabic-language newspaper spilled into New York on Monday with the discovery of four explosive devices in the mail at the United Nations. The U.N. scare came only hours after two security guards were injured by a letter-bomb blast at Al Hayat newspaper's London headquarters, where four other bombs were discovered and disabled. The latest bombs appear to be part of a campaign that began Jan.

Amid dimming hopes for peace in Northern Ireland, British police won a new battle in their war with the Irish Republican Army on Monday, seizing terrorist suspects, weapons and enough ready-to-blow explosives to cripple a major city. One man died in an orchestrated series of dawn raids; five other suspects were arrested in what police portrayed as a major victory that short-circuited imminent, deadly terrorist violence.

The Irish Republican Army on Wednesday claimed responsibility for last week's bombing in Manchester, England, which injured more than 200 people. In a statement issued in Dublin, the Irish capital, the IRA said it "sincerely regretted" injuries to civilians. The truck bomb exploded Saturday at a shopping mall in the center of Manchester while police were clearing the area following phone warnings.

In a carefully timed terrorist act, a car bomb exploded in the heart of the northern English city of Manchester on Saturday, wounding more than 200 people and dealing a savage blow to peace hopes in Northern Ireland. Police said a man speaking with an Irish accent and using a recognized code word of the Irish Republican Army phoned in warnings of the attack, and quick response spared the shopper-filled city center from a deadlier outcome.

A small explosion rattled the Hammersmith Bridge area of West London after telephoned warnings by a caller claiming to be with the Irish Republican Army. Police said they neutralized a multi-part explosive device after an explosion in one part of it. There were no reports of injuries or damages. Meanwhile, the IRA's allies in the Sinn Fein party announced that they will participate in elections in Northern Ireland on May 30, which are intended to pave the way for peace talks.

This is a St. Patrick's Day story about two lads who are much on people's minds today as Ireland celebrates the wearin' o' the green with more disquiet than joy. The two men, who became teenage volunteers for violence nearly a generation apart, embody the struggle of the Irish Republican Army, a shadowy brotherhood of zealots who believe that bombs speak louder than votes. One, Ed O'Brien, is dead, blown apart last month at age 21 by a bomb he was carrying on a double-decker bus in London.