New IRA admits responsibility for killing journalist Lyra McKee

 

The New IRA has admitted responsibility for the killing of 29-year-old journalist Lyra McKee.

In a statement given to The Irish News, using a recognised code word, the group offered “full and sincere apologies” to her family and friends.

McKee was shot in the head while she observed rioting in Londonderry’s Creggan estate on Thursday night. McKee was standing near a police vehicle when she was shot as a masked gunman fired towards police and onlookers.

The New IRA said she was killed “while standing beside enemy forces” and added that it had “instructed our volunteers to take the utmost care in future when engaging the enemy, and put in place measures to help ensure this”.

The New IRA is the biggest of the dissident republican groups operating in Northern Ireland.

The group has been linked with four murders and formed between 2011 and 2012 – following the merger of a number of smaller groups, including the Real IRA.

The New IRA also claimed a number package bombs posted to targets in London and Glasgow in March.

Via The Irish Times/BBC

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