Sniper kills Ulster soldier

A SOLDIER shot dead in Northern Ireland yesterday was the fourth member of the security forces in eight months to be murdered with a single shot. Police now believe that a lone sniper is responsible for the killings.

The latest victim was L/Cpl Lawrence Dickson, 26, of the 1st Battalion Royal Scots, from Inverness. He was hit in the chest while on foot patrol near the village of Forkhill, south Armagh, close to the Irish border.

There has been no official confirmation, but a high-powered long- range rifle is thought to have been used, possibly an American-made Barrett (Light Fifty) which has a killing range of up to 1,800 metres (nearly 2,000 yards).

Earlier, terrorists tried to blow up two workmen near Aghadowey, Co Antrim. They drove for four miles with a booby-trap device under their van and had just left it when the bomb exploded. The workmen are employed by a construction company that undertakes contracts for the RUC and the Army.