A 66-year-old man has been arrested in Northern Ireland in connection with an investigation into the “Bloody Sunday” shooting deaths of 14 people in Derry in 1972, according the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
British news organizations, citing security sources, say the man arrested is a former British soldier.
Killings hardened anti-British sentiment
In 2010, the British government released a damning report about the “Bloody Sunday” massacre, placing blame overwhelmingly on British soldiers.
The shootings at a civil rights march in Derry hardened anti-British sentiment in Northern Ireland, according to analysts, and led to many fresh recruits for the Irish Republican Army. Three decades of violence followed, known as The Troubles, in which almost 3,000 people died.
There was some provocation by the Irish Republican Army in Derry on that day, but nothing that justified the shootings of civilians, the British government’s report found.
Cameron’s apology over ‘Bloody Sunday’
British paratroopers on that day had no reason to believe they were under threat from the victims, gave no warnings before firing, and lied to the far-reaching official inquiry into the seminal event, the inquiry concluded.
Only one casualty was associated with the IRA, and he was probably not posing a threat when he was shot fatally, the report found.
Members of the British Army fired more than 100 rounds in violation of orders issued to every British soldier serving in Northern Ireland at the time, the report found.
“Some members of our armed forces acted wrongly … and for that, on behalf of the government, indeed on behalf of our country, I am deeply sorry,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said after the release of the report.
SOURCE: Don Melvin
CNN
BCNN1 WP 