Red Hand Defenders

It has been alleged that the name "Red Hand Defenders" is merely a covername for members of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA) so the organizations can claim on the surface to have honoured their ceasefire agreements. Similar accusations have been made regarding the name "Orange Volunteers", another loyalist paramilitary group that emerged in 1998. Claims of responsibility by the RHD for certain attacks have overlapped with those of the Orange Volunteers. The LVF denies these claims, stating that its armed campaign has ended. LVF members were aware that any breach of the ceasefire could result in the return to jail for those paramilitary prisoners freed as part of the Good Friday Agreement of April 1998. As a result, the actual existence of the RHD has consistently been called into question. ==Ideology and modus operandi==

The Red Hand Defenders use violence toward the goal of maintaining British control in Northern Ireland. The resulting long-term conflict in Northern Ireland was often referred to as "the Troubles". The group's civilian targets have included Catholic schools and Catholic postal workers. The weapons used by RHD members include pipe bombs, handguns and grenades. The group does not appear to receive aid from outside the UK. ==Notable attacks==

The RHD emerged when it claimed responsibility for a blast bomb attack on 7 September 1998 during a loyalist protest in Portadown. The loyalists had been protesting against the decision to ban the Orange Order from marching through the town's mainly Irish Catholic and Irish nationalist quarter (see Drumcree conflict). The attack killed a Catholic Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer. The sincerity of the statement was immediately called into question. • 31 Oct: The RHD claimed responsibility for shooting dead a Catholic civilian as he walked along Alliance Avenue, Belfast. 1999 • 26 Jan: The RHD claimed responsibility for an attempted pipe bomb attack on the home of a Catholic family near Carrickfergus. The family lived in a mainly Protestant estate. It failed to explode. • 28 Jan: The RHD claimed responsibility for a pipe bomb attack on the home of a Catholic family in Dungannon. • 24 Feb: The RHD claimed responsibility for a pipe bomb attack on a house in Rosapenna Street, Belfast. The pipe bomb was found in the back garden of the house, which was beside a peace line. and the LVF were blamed but the LVF denied responsibility. • 7 June: A pipe bomb was found and defused outside St Mary's (Catholic) primary school in Ballymena. It is believed that the RHD were responsible. • 4 Oct: The RHD claimed responsibility for throwing a pipe bomb at a Catholic taxi driver as he drove through the Peter's Hill area of Belfast. It failed to explode. • 27 Oct: The RHD claimed responsibility for planting a pipe bomb at the home of a republican in west Belfast. It failed to explode. 2001 • 24 Jan: The RHD claimed responsibility for firing shots at the home of prominent republican Martin Óg Meehan (son of Sinn Féin MLA Martin Meehan) in Ardoyne, Belfast. On 29 Jan it claimed responsibility for firing shots at the home of Martin Óg Meehan's brother on the same street. • 19 Jun: The RHD issued a death threat to husband and wife Sinn Féin councillors Breige and Martin Meehan. • 4 Jul: The RHD claimed responsibility for shooting dead a Catholic civilian as he waited for a lift to work in Antrim. The attack was a drive-by shooting by gunmen on a motorbike. In a call to a newspaper, a RHD spokesman said the teenager had been shot in "direct response to the Catholic people of Antrim voting in two Sinn Féin [councillors]. They are going to have to pay the price for it. God Save Ulster". • 20 Jul: The RHD claimed responsibility for firing shots into Ashton Community Centre in the nationalist Ardoyne area of Belfast. There were staff and children inside at the time. In a statement, the RHD said: "all nationalist people [are] hostile and legitimate targets". • 29 Jul: The RHD claimed responsibility for shooting dead a Protestant civilian as he stood outside St Enda's Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club in Newtownabbey. The attack was a drive-by shooting on a group of people. Brett was hit by automatic fire as he stood with his Catholic friends. • 30 Aug: The RHD claimed responsibility for shooting a man in Coalisland. • 1 Oct: The RHD claimed responsibility for planting a bomb outside the home of republican Eddie Copeland in Ardoyne, Belfast. • 3 Dec: The RHD claimed responsibility for shooting dead a Catholic civilian as he sat in a car on Upper Crumlin Road, Belfast. 2002 • 6 Jan: The RHD claimed responsibility for a pipe bomb attack on the home of a prison officer at Westway Park, Belfast. The man's wife and daughter were wounded. The RHD said it was in response to the alleged harassment of loyalist prisoners in Maghaberry Prison. • 11 Jan: The RHD issued a death threat against all teachers and staff working at Catholic schools in north Belfast. • 26 Apr: The RHD claimed responsibility for a nail bomb attack on the home of a Sinn Féin councillor. • 22 Jul: The RHD claimed responsibility for shooting dead a Catholic civilian as he walked home on Floral Road, Belfast. Earlier in the evening, a Protestant had been shot and wounded on Alliance Avenue. The RHD said the killing of Lawlor was a "measured response" to that attack. However, the UDA/UFF later admitted that its members had been involved in the killing. • 4 Aug: The RHD issued a death threat against Catholic workers at the Mater Hospital in Belfast and Ulster Hospital in Dundonald. • 20 Aug: In a statement to a newspaper, the RHD threatened that "if there is one more brick thrown by Catholics at houses in Glenbryn, every resident on the upper half of Alliance Avenue will be forcibly removed from their homes". • 19 Dec: The RHD claimed responsibility for throwing a pipe bomb at the home of a Catholic family in north Belfast. • 19 May: The RHD claimed responsibility for planting an explosive device outside a Republican Sinn Féin office in west Belfast. It was defused by the British Army. • 11 Nov: The RHD claimed responsibility for planting an explosive device outside a Catholic-owned house in north Belfast. It said it was targeting a spokesperson for the Parents of Holy Cross Primary School. 2005 • 13 Feb: The RHD claimed responsibility for killing a Catholic civilian. He was found unconscious with head wounds on Jamaica Road, Belfast. However, it is not certain if the RHD were responsible as no code-word was given when the claim was made. 2006 • 4 Mar: The RHD claimed responsibility for the attempted killing of a taxi driver in north Belfast. A man who got into the taxi pressed a handgun to the driver's head and pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed and he managed to flee. 2013 • 21 May: Four men linked with the Red Hand Defenders were jailed for two years and eight months for sending death threats to a couple in County Armagh back in February and March 2011. The loyalist gang demanded £15,000 from the couple and threatened paramilitary attacks if the couple did not pay them, but were arrested shortly after receiving £5,000 from the couple in Portadown. • 6 September: RHD reportedly threatened attacks on Catholic schools in North Belfast. ==See also==