AN UNNAMED group has claimed responsibility for breaching security at Shannon airport last week and damaging an aircraft used by US military personnel.
The DC-10 jet, operated by Omni Air International under contract to the US Air Mobility Command, was targeted in the early hours of December 20th.
An antiwar slogan was sprayed on the aircraft and hydraulic lines were damaged.
The Garda and airport authorities said no claim of responsibility had been received from any group after the incident.
Yesterday, however, the monthly bulletin of the Galway Alliance Against War reproduced the content of a “handwritten communication we received from one of the members of the peace team that sabotaged a US troop transporter at Shannon warport”.
The alliance claimed to have verified that the person who sent the letter participated in the action.
The letter stated: “It was appropriate to carry out this peace action in Christmas week, when the media and politicians’ speeches, the world over, are full of hypocritical Christian cant about peace, while they support and even profit from wars in far-off lands.” It outlined how the unnamed group was dropped off at a perimeter fence at “Shannon’s warport” and then cut through two fences to enter the airfield.
It said those involved made their way towards the target aircraft under cover of darkness.
“Although there was plenty of activity at the terminal, the area around the plane was completely deserted,” it added.
“Actually we all lay on the ground observing the plane and its surroundings before we decided to move in and carry out our act of sabotage,” the letter claimed.
A Garda spokesman said an investigation was continuing.