Editing Ulster Volunteer Force (section)

===Early to mid-1970s===
In January 1970, the UVF began bombing Catholic-owned businesses in Protestant areas of Belfast. It issued a statement vowing to "remove republican elements from loyalist areas" and stop them "reaping financial benefit therefrom". During 1970, 42 Catholic-owned licensed premises in Protestant areas were bombed.<ref name=cusack83>Cusack & McDonald, pp. 83–85</ref> Catholic churches were also attacked. In February, it began to target critics of militant loyalism – the homes of MPs [[Austin Currie]], [[Sheelagh Murnaghan]], [[Richard Ferguson (barrister)|Richard Ferguson]] and [[Anne Dickson]] were attacked with improvised bombs.<ref name=cusack83/> It also continued its attacks in the Republic of Ireland, bombing the Dublin-Belfast railway line, an electricity substation, a radio mast, and Irish nationalist monuments.<ref name=cusack77>Cusack & McDonald, pp. 77–78</ref>

The IRA had split into the [[Provisional IRA]] and [[Official IRA]] in December 1969. In 1971, these ramped up their activity against the British Army and RUC. The first British soldier to be killed by the Provisional IRA died in February 1971. That year, a string of tit-for-tat pub bombings began in Belfast.<ref>Cusack & McDonald, p. 91</ref> This came to a climax on 4 December, when the UVF [[McGurk's Bar bombing|bombed McGurk's Bar]], a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast. Fifteen Catholic civilians were killed and seventeen wounded. It was the UVF's deadliest attack in Northern Ireland, and the deadliest attack in Belfast during the Troubles.<ref>Taylor, p. 88</ref>

The following year, 1972, was the most violent of the Troubles. Along with the newly formed [[Ulster Defence Association]] (UDA), the UVF started an armed campaign against the Catholic population of Northern Ireland. It began carrying out gun attacks to kill random Catholic civilians and using car bombs to attack Catholic-owned pubs. It would continue these tactics for the rest of its campaign. On 23 October 1972, the UVF carried out an armed raid against King's Park camp, a UDR/[[Territorial Army (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] depot in Lurgan. They managed to procure a large cache of weapons and ammunition including [[L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle]]s, [[Browning pistols]], and [[Sterling submachine gun]]s. Twenty tons of [[ammonium nitrate]] was also stolen from the Belfast docks.<ref name="taylor112" />

The UVF launched further attacks in the Republic of Ireland during December 1972 and January 1973, when it detonated [[1972 and 1973 Dublin bombings|three car bombs in Dublin]] and one in [[Belturbet]], [[County Cavan]], killing a total of five civilians. It would attack the Republic again in May 1974, during the two-week [[Ulster Workers' Council strike]]. This was a [[general strike]] in protest against the [[Sunningdale Agreement]], which meant sharing political power with Irish nationalists and the Republic having more involvement in Northern Ireland. Along with the UDA, it helped to enforce the strike by blocking roads, intimidating workers, and shutting any businesses that opened.<ref>Anderson, Don. ''14 May Days''. [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/uwc/anderson.htm Chapter 3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007014857/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/uwc/anderson.htm |date=7 October 2014 }}. Reproduced on [[Conflict Archive on the Internet]].</ref> On 17 May, two UVF units from the Belfast and [[UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade|Mid-Ulster brigades]] detonated [[Dublin and Monaghan Bombings|four car bombs]] in Dublin and [[Monaghan]]. Thirty-three people were killed and almost 300 injured. It was the deadliest attack of the Troubles. There are various{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} allegations that elements of the British security forces colluded with the UVF in the bombings. The [[Oireachtas|Irish parliament]]'s [[Oireachtas committee|Joint Committee on Justice]] called the bombings an act of "international terrorism" involving members of the British security forces.<ref>[http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0517/monaghan.html "Call for probe of British link to 1974 bombs"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012084317/http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0517/monaghan.html |date=12 October 2012 }}. RTÉ News. 19 May 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2013.</ref> Both the UVF and the British government have denied the claims.

The UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade was founded in 1972 in Lurgan by Billy Hanna, a sergeant in the UDR and a member of the Brigade Staff, who served as the brigade's commander, until he was shot dead in July 1975. From that time until the early 1990s the Mid-Ulster Brigade was led by [[Robin Jackson|Robin "the Jackal" Jackson]], who then passed the leadership to [[Billy Wright (loyalist)|Billy Wright]]. Hanna and Jackson have both been implicated by journalist Joe Tiernan and RUC [[Special Patrol Group]] (SPG) officer [[John Weir (loyalist)|John Weir]] as having led one of the units that bombed Dublin.<ref>The Barron Report (2003).</ref> Jackson was allegedly the hitman who shot Hanna dead outside his home in Lurgan.<ref>"UVF Rule Out Jackal Link To Murder", ''The People'', 30 June 2002. [https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-88079079] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923161303/https://www.gale.com/databases/questia|date=23 September 2021}}. Retrieved 17–12–10</ref>

The brigade formed part of the [[Glenanne gang]], a loose alliance of loyalists which the [[Pat Finucane Centre]] (PFC) has linked to 87 killings in the 1970s. The gang comprised, in addition to members the UVF, elements of the UDR and RUC, all of which were allegedly acting under the direction of the [[Intelligence Corps (United Kingdom)|Intelligence Corps]] and/or the [[RUC Special Branch]] according to the PFC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/sarmagh/sarmagh.html |title=Collusion in the South Armagh / Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970's |access-date=2011-04-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426121606/http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/sarmagh/sarmagh.html |archive-date=26 April 2011}}. Retrieved 17–12–10</ref>