THE RUC has arrested seven men in a security operation in south Armagh. It has also recovered an armour-plated car which it believes was being prepared for use in an IRA sniping attack.
The arrests were made just north of Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, on Thursday evening but details did not emerge until last evening.
However, the operation was regarded as one of the biggest single security successes in many years.
There was no official comment from the RUC other than that a number of arrests had been made. Those detained were being held last night in Gough Barracks in Armagh.
It is understood that along with the armour-plated car, of a type known to have been used as a platform for the IRA snipers, a second car and a number of walkie-talkies and balaclavas were recovered.
The RUC has been searching for a south Armagh sniping unit since 1992 when it killed the first of 11 members of the security forces in single-shot attacks.
The area around the farm buildings at Cregganduff Road, where the arrests and finds were made, was sealed off yesterday and a large number of police and soldiers were searching the area.
There was no indication that the police had recovered any of the sniping rifles, which include an American-manufactured Barrett .5 "Light Fifty" sniping rifle which has a range of 2,000 metres. The IRA's sniping arsenal also includes lower-calibre rifles.
The security operation has centred on farmland north of Crossmaglen. The area was first sealed off on Thursday afternoon and helicopters have been ferrying police, army and equipment into the area. The search is expected to continue today.
One of the cars is understood to be a hatchback fitted with a steel plate on the back window and pierced with a spy hole through which a gun could be fired.
The steel plate is fitted in the rear of the vehicle to provide the sniping team with protection in case security forces return fire. The two vehicles seized are being examined by forensic experts.
The most recent victim of the sniping unit was Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick, who was killed with a single shot as he manned a checkpoint in Bessbrook on February 13th.
The first victim of the sniping attacks, Private Paul Turner, was killed in August 1992 in Crossmaglen.
A similar type of sniping attack was used by the IRA on Thursday to shoot and injure the RUC reserve constable, Alice Collins, in Derry on Thursday.
As she was treated in hospital yesterday, fears were heightening that the loyalist paramilitary ceasefire was in danger of collapse.
Meanwhile, a large arms cache was discovered by security forces yesterday afternoon. It included an assault rifle, magazines, a quantity of ammunition and commercial explosives, and was found close to the M2 motorway at Fort William in Belfast.