Train set afire by IRA activists

BELFAST, July 8: A passenger train was hijacked and petrol-bombed in Northern Ireland today by masked men claiming to belong to the outlawed Irish Republican Army (IRA), police said.

They said the Irish rail train, on route from Dublin in the Irish Republic to Belfast, was attacked as it crossed the border into Northern Ireland at the town of Newry.

The attackers ordered passengers off before smashing windows and starting fires on board with petrol bombs.

It was the second such incident since riots erupted across Ulster following a controversial Orange Order parade at Portadown last Sunday.

Then, a train was seized and set on fire in the town of Lurgan, causing damage totalling six million British pounds. Police said the area around Newry station was evacuated after Tuesday’s attack following a report from the driver that gunmen had planted a device on the locomotive.