BELFAST (EmergencyNet News) - A Catholic taxi driver was shot and killed in Belfast Monday night in the latest tit-for-tat attack by rival loyalist and republican gunmen. The victim was reportedly hit by four shots.

He was the second man to be fatally shot in Belfast inside 12 hours and although no organization claimed responsibility, police blamed loyalists and said they believed the driver was killed in retaliation for the republican INLA murder of a 38-year-old man who was gunned down at his carpet shop at Dunmurry.

Monday night's victim was sitting in a car outside his company offices when he was shot. Police believe one, or possibly two, gunmen were involved in the attack.

The death of the 52-year-old taxi driver brings to eight the number of people shot dead in Northern Ireland in the past six weeks -- six nationalists and two loyalists.

According to security sources, the shooting war between loyalists and the INLA could escalate. The IRA is expected to review its ceasefire at some stage in the spring.

From: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Thursday, January 22, 1998 Vol. 4 - 022

From the ERRI Watch Center

BELFAST (EmergencyNet News) - One man was fatally shot and two others were wounded in separate sectarian attacks that occurred in Northern Ireland late Tuesday. A Catholic 55-year-old man was the first victim. He was shot and killed as he left work at a store in southern of Belfast at about 1715 hours local time. The victim was struck by at least five bullets.

Detectives were questioning three loyalists about the killing. Although no organization has admitted responsibility for the murder, the UFF, whose UDP political representatives are taking part in the multi-party Stormont negotiations, is being blamed.

UDP representatives insist that they are unaware of any UFF involvement in the recent shootings, but security sources say they suspect a direct link in at least three of the recent shootings, two in the last 48 hours.

Security sources also say that a top loyalist paramilitary heavily involved in directing terrorism in North Antrim has switched his allegiance to the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), the splinter organization believed to be behind some of the murders.

A second man, a taxi driver, was shot and wounded in the northern part of the city at about 2100 hours local time while answering a phony request for a cab. He managed to drive himself to a hospital and was treated for a wound to the head, said to be not life-threatening. Loyalists are also believed to be responsible for this shooting.

The third victim, a man in his 40s, was shot several times in a predominantly Protestant area located on the outskirts of south Belfast, shortly before 2300 hours local time. The RUC said that two gunmen burst into the man's house and shot him as he sat in the living room with his wife. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his abdomen and neck. He was reported to be in critical condition. Again, loyalists are suspected.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for any of last night's attacks.

From: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Friday, January 23, 1998 Vol. 4 - 023

EUROPE

BELFAST (EmergencyNet News) - There was another shooting incident in Belfast overnight. A Catholic man was seriously wounded in the shoulder, thigh and groin when a gunman fired three shots at him as he closed up a bakery shop where he worked.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting, but media reports said pro-British Protestant guerrillas were being blamed for the attack. The victim was said to be married to a cousin of a senior member of Sinn Fein, the political arm of the Irish Republican Army terrorist group.

From: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Saturday, January 24, 1998 Vol. 4 - 024

BELFAST (EmergencyNet News) - Another man was shot and killed on Friday only hours after one of Northern Ireland's pro-British terrorist groups said it was ending hostilities against Irish nationalists. The victim was shot in the head while laying gas pipes on a road in a Protestant district of north Belfast.

Before the shooting, the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), which advocates continued British rule, announced an end to attacks on Catholics. But no word was received from another Protestant terrorist group, the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), which has admitted murdering some of the six Catholics who have been shot in previous attacks since Christmas.

BELFAST (EmergencyNet News) - A Catholic taxi driver was shot and killed in Belfast on Saturday night and his body dumped on a roadside on the edge of the city. He was the sixth person to be murdered in the recent campaign of violence which has swept Belfast in the past week. So far, five Catholics and one loyalist have been killed.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the murder, but the Loyalist Volunteer Force is suspected.

The murder occurred a short time before a bomb exploded at a popular nightclub in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, that caused extensive damage. A warning had been given and the club and surrounding area were evacuated. No injuries were reported.

The club was evacuated after a series of warnings, one to a local priest. The warnings carried no code word and no organization's name. But the breakaway Continuity IRA is believed to have been responsible.

Two hours after the area had been sealed off, the bomb, packed into a car parked close to the building, exploded causing substantial damage. The Continuity IRA has targeted Enniskillen twice before since they broke away from the IRA.