Protestant Slain in Northern Ireland

Three IRA gunmen burst into the home of a Protestant man Wednesday night and shot him to death in front of his wife and daughter, police said.

The Irish Republican Army, fighting to end British rule in Northern Ireland, said its guerrillas shot the man in the living room of his home in the village of Magheralin, near the border with the Irish Republic. They said he was closely involved with pro-British groups.

Police said the gunmen escaped in a car taken from a family held hostage at their home nearby.

IRA militants and pro-British Protestant gunmen have been involved in many retaliatory killings since the current sectarian and political conflict began in 1969.

Ten days ago in the same area, Brendan Curran, a local lawyer for Sinn Fein, the political arm of the IRA, was slain by gunmen who burst into his parents’ home.