Irish Guerrillas Kill Woman

Protestant guerrillas killed a pregnant Roman Catholic woman in her bedroom Sunday, but left her five children unharmed.

In a telephone message to a radio station, the outlawed Ulster Volunteer Force admitted murdering Kathleen O’Hagan.

O’Hagan, 38, who was six months pregnant, was killed when gunmen broke into her house overnight in a rural area known for its hard-line support of unification with Ireland.

“She evidently heard them force their way through the back door and had got out of bed,” said a police spokesman in Omagh, where the attack took place. “They shot her a number of times in the bedroom.”

Her children, all younger than 8, were in the house but were unhurt. A 17-month-old boy was in a crib by her bed.

Police said O’Hagan’s husband, Patrick, came home a few hours after the attack to find her dead and their children distraught.

Security sources said he had once been imprisoned for possessing arms and may have been the intended target of the UVF, which wants Northern Ireland to remain British.

O’Hagan’s death brings to 52 the number of people killed in political and sectarian violence this year.