Editing Flamethrower (section)

==== Provisional IRA ====
In 1981 the [[FBI]] foiled an attempt by New York-based [[gun runner]] [[George Harrison (Irish republican)|George Harrison]] to smuggle an [[M2 flamethrower]] to Ireland for the IRA.<ref>Alexander, Shana.  "The Patriot Game".  _New York_, 22 November 1982.  pg 58+.  [https://books.google.com/books?id=0ucCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA58 Retrievable from]</ref><ref>{{cite AV media | date = 22 February 1982 | title = World in Action| type = Television documentary | language = English | publisher = ITN }}</ref> In [[the Troubles]], during the mid-1980s, the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|IRA]] smuggled in Soviet [[LPO-50]] military flamethrowers (supplied to them by the [[Libya]]n government) into [[Northern Ireland]].<ref>O'Brien, Brendan (1999). ''The Long War: The IRA and Sinn Féin'', Syracuse University Press, p. 279. {{ISBN|0-8156-0597-8}}</ref> An IRA team riding on an [[Improvised tactical vehicles of the Provisional IRA|improvised armoured truck]] used one of these flamethrowers, among other weapons, to storm a [[Attack on Derryard checkpoint|British Army permanent checkpoint in Derryard]], near [[Rosslea]], on 13 December 1989.<ref>Moloney, Ed (2003). ''A secret story of the IRA''. W.W. Norton & co., p. 333. {{ISBN|0-393-32502-4}}</ref> Some months later, on 4 March 1990, the IRA attacked an RUC station in [[Stewartstown, County Tyrone|Stewartstown]], [[County Tyrone]], using an improvised flamethrower consisting of a [[Manure spreader|manure-spreader]] towed by a tractor to spray {{cvt|2700|L|impgal USgal}} of a petrol/diesel mix to engulf the base in flames, and then opened fire with rifles and an anti-tank rocket launcher.<ref name="ReferenceA">''Fortnight'', No. 283, pp. 20–21. Fortnight Publications, 1990.</ref><ref>''Irish Independent'', 6 March 1990.</ref><ref>''Dundee Courier'', 6 March 1990.</ref><ref>''Derby Daily Telegraph'', 5 March 1990.</ref> Another IRA unit carried two attacks in less than a year with another improvised flamethrower towed by a tractor on a British Army watchtower, the Borucki sangar, in [[Crossmaglen]], [[County Armagh]], also in the early 1990s. The first incident occurred on 12 December 1992,<ref>{{Cite web|date=1992-12-14|title=Loyalists fire rocket at prison canteen|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/loyalists-fire-rocket-at-prison-canteen-1563427.html|access-date=2019-06-07|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> when the bunker was manned by [[Scots Guards]], and the second on 12 November 1993. The device used as launcher was also a manure spreader, which doused the facility with fuel, ignited few seconds later by a small explosion. In the 1993 action, a nine-metre-high fireball engulfed the tower for seven minutes. The four [[Grenadier Guards]] inside the outpost were rescued by a [[Saxon (vehicle)|Saxon]] armoured vehicle.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Bandit Country: The IRA & South Armagh|last=Harnden|first=Toby|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton|year=2001|isbn=0-340-71736-X|pages=123–24}}</ref> Incendiary improvised devices were also proven by the republican paramilitaries, such as an IRA grenade attack on a British Army patrol on 4 April 1993 in [[Carrickmore]], County Tyrone; the device consisted of {{cvt|2|lb|kg|order=flip|sigfig=1}} of [[semtex]] and {{convert|22.5|L|impgal usgal}} of petrol; the bomb exploded, but the fuel failed to ignite. A soldier was thrown several metres across the road by the blast.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 April 1993 |title=War News |url=https://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/IP/id/14881/rec/15 |access-date=2022-10-16 |website=indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org |publisher=The Irish People |language=en}}</ref>