Public’s Help Sought in Tracking IRA
Detectives asked the public for help Friday in tracking down the Irish Republican Army terrorists who tried to kill British Prime Minister John Major and his War Cabinet a day earlier, while security was intensified to prevent a repeat mortar assault in the heart of the capital.
Police said there had been a strong response to the appeal for help in finding the men who abandoned a white van seconds before three mortar shells were fired Thursday at No. 10 Downing Street, Major’s official residence.
One of the shells landed in the garden, shattering some windows and slightly injuring four people.
Scotland Yard’s anti-terrorism chief, Cmdr. George Churchill-Coleman, appealed for information about a workshop or garage where the terrorist must have used welding or cutting equipment to make a platform for the mortar tubes.
The van was burned, and how many clues forensic scientists would find in a methodical search depended on the extent of the damage, police said.
Defense Secretary Tom King said that security had been tightened on Whitehall, a busy thoroughfare lined with government buildings.
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