26 March 1998 Edition
Back issue: SAS murder bid fails
Last Thursday 16 March two young Andersonstown men, Dessy Mackin and Bobby Gamble, found themselves victims of an SAS assassination bid. At the junction of Glen Road/Rossnareen Avenue in the Andersonstown estate, Belfast, they were fired upon without warning by several plain-clothes British soldiers.
Local people say that a British army assassin in plain clothes and previously driving a civilian car had an accomplice who ran away when a wounded Bobby Gamble, in defence of his life, courageously jumped at the gunman and knocked him to the ground. The gunman's accomplice hailed another two-man undercover patrol in a vehicle who immediately raced to the scene.
They opened fire and Dessy Mackin ran off but was wounded. In a statement the British army later said that one of their men was shot, but it is widely believed, and locals support this claim, that the Brit, if shot at all, was hit by one of his own SAS colleagues.
Local people say that a British army assassin in plain clothes and previously driving a civilian car had an accomplice who ran away when a wounded Bobby Gamble, in defence of his life, courageously jumped at the gunman and knocked him to the ground. The gunman's accomplice hailed another two-man undercover patrol in a vehicle who immediately raced to the scene.
They opened fire and Dessy Mackin ran off but was wounded. In a statement the British army later said that one of their men was shot, but it is widely believed, and locals support this claim, that the Brit, if shot at all, was hit by one of his own SAS colleagues.