Editing Real Irish Republican Army (section)

====Bombings in England====
[[File:Real IRA bomb damage in Ealing.jpg|thumb|left|The damage caused by the [[3 August 2001 Ealing bombing]]]]
After the Omagh bombing, the RIRA leadership were unwilling to launch a full-scale campaign in Northern Ireland due to the possibility of civilians being killed.<ref name="Mooney" />{{rp|338}} Instead they decided to launch a series of attacks in England, in particular London, which they hoped would attract disenchanted Provisional IRA members to join the RIRA.<ref name="Mooney" />{{rp|338}} On 1 June 2000, a bomb damaged [[Hammersmith Bridge]], a symbolic target for Irish republican paramilitary groups.<ref>{{cite news |title=Police hunt bridge bombers |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/774216.stm |work=BBC News |date=2 June 2000 |access-date=6 May 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=McDonald |first=Henry |author-link=Henry McDonald (writer) |date=4 June 2000 |title=Real IRA armed with super mortar |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/jun/04/northernireland.henrymcdonald2 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=15 June 2007}}</ref> The bridge had been targeted by the [[Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)|Irish Republican Army]] on 29 March 1939 as part of its [[S-Plan|Sabotage Campaign]], and by the Provisional IRA [[1996 Hammersmith Bridge bomb|on 24 April 1996]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Randall |first=Colin |title=Bridge survives as IRA's 30lb bombs fail to explode |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1996/04/26/nbomb26.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=26 April 1996 |access-date=15 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040826074517/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=%2Farchive%2F1996%2F04%2F26%2Fnbomb26.html |archive-date=26 August 2004 }}</ref>

On 19 July, security forces carried out a controlled explosion on a bomb left at [[Ealing Broadway station]] and public transport was disrupted when the [[Metropolitan Police]] closed [[London Victoria station|Victoria]] and [[London Paddington station|Paddington]] train stations and halted services on the [[London Underground]].<ref>{{cite news | title = Bomb scares hit capital | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/840694.stm | work = BBC News | date = 19 July 2000 | access-date = 5 May 2007}}</ref> On [[2000 MI6 attack|21 September]] a [[rocket-propelled grenade]] was fired at the [[SIS Building|MI6 headquarters]] using an [[RPG-22]] rocket launcher, which generated headlines around the world.<ref name="Mooney" />{{rp|349–350}}<ref name="Boyne" />{{rp|84}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Security tight in London in wake of MI6 attack |url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2000/0921/9022-dissidents/ |publisher=Raidió Teilifís Éireann |date=21 September 2000 |access-date=3 May 2007}}</ref> In November 2000, security forces foiled a plot to drive 500 lb of homemade explosives to central London that month, a bomb twice as powerful as the one in Omagh. At the time, police were warning for weeks that a terrorist attack in London could be imminent.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1374106/Real-IRAs-500lb-bomb-for-London-is-thwarted.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1374106/Real-IRAs-500lb-bomb-for-London-is-thwarted.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Real IRA's 500lb bomb for London is thwarted|first=David|last=Cracknell|date=12 November 2000|work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

On 21 February 2001, a bomb disguised as a [[Flashlight|torch]] left outside a [[Territorial Army (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] base in [[Shepherd's Bush]] seriously injured a 14-year-old cadet, who was blinded and had his hand blown off.<ref>{{cite news | title = TA blast was deliberate attack | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1183106.stm | work = BBC News | date = 22 February 2001 | access-date = 15 June 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = BBC bomb prompts terror warning | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1201444.stm | work = BBC News | date = 5 March 2001 | access-date = 15 June 2007}}</ref> A second attack in Shepherd's Bush, the [[4 March 2001 BBC bombing|4 March BBC bombing]], injured a civilian outside the [[BBC Television Centre]].<ref>{{cite news | title = Bomb blast outside BBC | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1201273.stm | work = BBC News | date = 4 March 2001 | access-date = 3 May 2007}}</ref> The explosion was captured by a BBC cameraman, and the footage was broadcast on TV stations worldwide, and gained mass publicity for the group.<ref>{{cite book | last = Taylor | first = Peter | author-link = Peter Taylor (Journalist) | title = Brits | publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing | year = 2001 | page = [https://archive.org/details/brits00pete/page/384 384] | isbn = 0-7475-5806-X | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/brits00pete/page/384 }}</ref> On 14 April, a bomb exploded at a postal [[sorting office]] in [[Hendon]], causing minor damage but no injuries.<ref>{{cite news | title = Real IRA linked to post office blast | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1278355.stm | work = BBC News | date = 15 April 2001 | access-date = 15 June 2007}}</ref> Three weeks later on 6 May, a second bomb exploded at the same building, causing slight injuries to a passer-by.<ref>{{cite news | title = Election bombing campaign feared | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1315452.stm | work = BBC News | date = 6 May 2001 | access-date = 15 June 2007}}</ref> The [[3 August 2001 Ealing bombing]] injured seven people, and on 3 November a car bomb containing 60&nbsp;lb of home-made explosives was planted in the centre of [[Birmingham]]. The bomb did not fully detonate and no one was injured.<ref>{{cite news | title = New leads in hunt for bombers | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1649338.stm | work = BBC News | date = 11 November 2001 | access-date = 3 May 2007}}</ref>