§ Mr. Stratton Millsasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will indicate for each period of seven days since 24th March, 1972, the numbers of explosions and nailbombs thrown; the number of shots fired; the number of soldiers and Royal Ulster Constabulary killed and injured; the volume of weapons recovered; the number of civilians killed and injured; the number of shots fired by the army and Royal Ulster Constabulary; and the value of property destroyed.
§ Mr. David Howell:Information is readily available only for the following periods.
22nd-29th March: Four civilians were killed and 111 civilians injured; no soldiers or members of the RUC were killed but 11 soldiers and four members of the RUC were injured. There were 92 shooting incidents at security forces. In 46 cases the military opened fire and 224 rounds were fired. Six weapons were recovered. It is not possible to assess the number of hostile shots fired in these incidents.
29th March-5th April: Two civilians were killed and 54 civilians injured; one member of the RUC was killed and nine military and one member of the RUC were injured. There were 72 shooting incidents at security forces. In 25 cases the military opened fire and 1,418 rounds were fired. Twelve weapons were recovered. It is not possible to assess the number of hostile shots fired in these incidents.
5th-12th April: One civilian was killed and 17 injured; three soldiers were killed and three soldiers and one member of the RUC were injured. There were 84 shooting incidents at security forces. In 42 cases military and RUC opened fire and 117 rounds were fired. Sixteen weapons were recovered. It is 47W not possible to assess the number of hostile shots fired in these incidents.
12th-I9th April: Three civilians were killed and 20 civilians injured; three soldiers were killed and 15 soldiers and one member of the RUC injured. There were 199 shooting incidents at security forces. In 102 cases soldiers and RUC opened fire and 10 weapons were recovered.
Available information about explosions and nail-bombs thrown is as follows:
Period Explosions Nail-bombs thrown 20th-27th March 28 1 28th March-3rd April 27 12 4th-10th April 27 14 llth-17th April 41 16 No accurate figure is yet available for the value of property destroyed.
§ Mr. Maginnisasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give the details of an explosion which occurred at Markethill, County Armagh, on Saturday, 1st April, 1972, his estimate of the damage caused to property, the amount of gelignite used and the number of casualties.
§ Mr. Channon:I have no knowledge of a bomb explosion in Markethill, County Armagh, on 1st April. But on 25th March at 8.08 p.m. a 50–100 lb. charge of explosives went off in the High Street causing extensive superficial damage to many of the buildings in the street. One elderly woman was taken to hospital suffering from shock. There were two anonymous phone calls to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, one at 7.18 p.m. saying there were three bombs in the High Street set to go off in 20 minutes and one at 7.23 p.m. saying there were two bombs in the street due to go off in five minutes. The police and Army had cleared everyone from the street.
§ Mr. Stratton Millsasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the series of explosions throughout Northern Ireland, on Thursday, 13th April.
§ Mr. David Howell:There were 25 bomb explosions throughout Northern Ireland on 13th April. As a result of one of the explosions, an elderly woman in Ballymoney was killed in a fire; a man has been charged with causing her death. 48W In other explosions a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, three soldiers and a civilian received injuries. The security forces are continuing their investigations into this series of incidents.