Catholics, IRA Riot in N. Ireland
Security forces were on alert today after thousands of Roman Catholics, spearheaded by IRA supporters, went on a nightlong rampage with automatic weapons and home-made bombs in at least a dozen towns.
By the time gangs led by supporters of the outlawed Irish Republican Army had calmed down this morning, police reported 42 arrests in 83 attacks on police and army posts in at least 12 towns. Eight policemen were hospitalized with various injuries and 15 civilians were wounded, three of them women, authorities said. The riots marked the 17th anniversary Monday of Britain’s 1971-75 policy of interning IRA suspects without trial.
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