NORTHERN IRELAND: MILITARY REACTION FORCE (MRF) & FORCE RESEARCH UNIT (FRU)

See the full text: Undercover soldiers ‘killed unarmed civilians in Belfast’ – Soldiers from an undercover unit used by the British army in Northern Ireland killed unarmed civilians, former members have told BBC One’s Panorama (BBC News, link). See Statewatch Feature: N Ireland: Documents confirm collusion (Statewatch bulletin, vol 8 no 2, March-April 1998, see pages 18-23): “A number of security force killings in the early 1980s had led to allegations of a “shoot-to-kill” policy and to the thwarted Stalker inquiry. In these circumstances, some commentators believe, military intelligence renewed its interest in the tried and tested strategy of using unofficial forces – referred to in Army manuals as “pseudo gangs” – to undermine the common enemy. In the early 1970s, the unit responsible for such a strategy was called the Military Reaction Force. By the late 1980s, it was the turn of the Force Research Unit.” [emphasis added] And: Britain’s Force Research Unit (Statewatch Bulletin; vol 13 no 5 August-October 2003) and MI5’s control over national security issues means covert operations are run by a “parallel police force” (Statewatch News Online, January 2013). Search Statewatch database for FRU (link)