Editing Ulster Volunteer Force (section)

===Late 1980s and early 1990s===
{{see also|Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997#Loyalists and the IRA – killing and reprisals}}

The UVF also attacked republican paramilitaries and political activists. These attacks were stepped up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly in the east Tyrone and north Armagh areas. The largest death toll in a single attack was in the 3 March [[1991 Cappagh killings]], when the UVF killed IRA members John Quinn, Dwayne O'Donnell and Malcolm Nugent, and civilian Thomas Armstrong in the small village of Cappagh.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/ |title=NI Conflict Archive on the Internet |publisher=Cain.ulst.ac.uk |access-date=29 July 2009 |archive-date=8 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608072332/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Republicans responded to the attacks by assassinating senior UVF members [[John Bingham (loyalist)|John Bingham]], [[William Marchant (loyalist)|William "Frenchie" Marchant]] and [[Trevor King (loyalist)|Trevor King]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/alpha/K.html |title=CAIN |publisher=Cain.ulst.ac.uk |access-date=29 July 2009 |archive-date=8 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608065150/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/alpha/K.html |url-status=live }}</ref> as well as Leslie Dallas, whose purported UVF membership was disputed both by his family and the UVF.<ref>Ed Moloney, Secret History of the IRA, p.321</ref> The UVF also killed senior IRA paramilitary members  Liam Ryan, John 'Skipper' Burns and [[Larry Marley]].<ref>The Irish Echo</ref> According to [[Conflict Archive on the Internet]] (CAIN), the UVF killed 17 active and four former republican paramilitaries. CAIN also states that republicans killed 15 UVF members, some of whom are suspected to have been set up for assassination by their colleagues.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/crosstabs.html |title=CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths – crosstabulations |publisher=Cain.ulst.ac.uk |access-date=1 September 2011 |archive-date=24 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324044004/http://www.cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/crosstabs.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to journalist and author [[Ed Moloney]], the UVF campaign in Mid-[[Ulster]] in this period "indisputably shattered Republican morale", and put the leadership of the republican movement under intense pressure to "do something",<ref>"Voices From the Grave:Two Men's War in Ireland" Ed Moloney, Faber & Faber, 2010 pp 417</ref> although this has been disputed by others.{{who|date=August 2022}}