Irish gun thefts spark fears of new Ulster sniper campaign

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/28/irish-gun-thefts-ulster-sniper-campaign

Anti-ceasefire republicans have stolen up to 30 high-powered rifles with telescopic sights that can be used in sniper attacks against the security forces in Northern Ireland, the Guardian has learned.

The theft of the long-range rifles has raised the spectre of a new lethal sniper campaign similar to the one the South Armagh Provisional IRA conducted that resulted in the deaths of several soldiers and policemen in the 1990s.

A security operation is still ongoing in the Irish Republic to track down the weapons, which can hit a target from over half a mile away and are normally used to shoot deer.

In 1997, British soldier Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick died after being hit by a high velocity bullet fired from a sniper's rifle near the border with the Republic.