Patterns of Global Terrorism 1996 - United Kingdom

In 1996 the Irish Republican Army (IRA) resumed a campaign of violence in Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, breaking a 17-month cease-fire. The Continuity Army Council (CAC) – also known as the Irish Continuity Army – a hardline Republican movement formed in 1994 to protest the IRA's cease-fire announcement in August of that year, also resumed its campaign of violence. Loyalist paramilitary groups maintained their cease-fire but remained combat ready and were considering a resumption of violence in response to the IRA bombings.

The IRA broke its cease-fire on 9 February, detonating more than 1,000 pounds of a homemade explosive mixture in a flatbed truck under a platform of London's Docklands light railway. The bomb killed two, injured more than 100, and caused extensive damage to five blocks of office buildings. On 18 February an IRA terrorist lost his life when a bomb he was carrying exploded prematurely in a bus in London. Nine persons were injured and the bus was destroyed. On 9 March a small improvised explosive device detonated inside a trash bin at the entrance to a London cemetery near a British Defense Ministry building. No one was injured. The IRA claimed responsibility for the bomb three days later.

On 24 April coded calls led police to a bomb containing about 30 pounds of plastic explosive under London's Hammersmith bridge. Police were evacuating the area when the two detonators exploded but failed to set off the plastic explosive charges; bomb squads disarmed the devices. The next night the IRA claimed responsibility for the bomb, calling its failure to explode "unfortunate."

A large fertilizer-based car bomb exploded near a shopping center in Manchester on 15 June, injuring more than 200 persons and causing an estimated $300 million in structural damage. The explosion coincided with a celebration in London marking the queen's official birthday.

IRA terrorists attacked a British army barracks in Osnabruck, Germany, on 28 June, with three mortar rounds launched from a truck-mounted rocket launcher. One of the shells hit the barracks, causing considerable damage but no injuries. The other two shells did not explode and were disarmed. The IRA also claimed credit for two vehicle bombs, each comprising about 800 pounds of homemade explosives, that exploded on the grounds of the British Army headquarters in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, on 7 October. The two blasts killed one serviceman and injured 31. Dual bombings are an IRA signature; the second bomb, placed in the path of victims fleeing from the first bomb, exploded about 10 minutes later.

The CAC claimed responsibility for a car bomb that exploded on 14 July at a hotel in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. About 40 people were injured in the blast. In similar incidents, on 29 September and 22 November, the CAC planted car bombs loaded with homemade explosives in Belfast and Londonderry, respectively. Following warning calls, army explosives experts found the vehicles and detonated them in controlled explosions.

Ulster peace talks have seen little progress. Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, is barred from the talks until the IRA accedes to an unconditional cease-fire. The decommissioning of Republican and Loyalist weapons is also a major sticking point to the talks.