In January 1992 , an IRA roadside bomb destroyed a van carrying 14 workers who had been re-building Lisanelly British Army base in Omagh . Eight were killed and the rest were badly wounded . The bombing was at Teebane Crossroads , near Cookstown . One of the workers killed , Robert Dunseath , was an off-duty Royal Irish Rangers soldier . The IRA said that the men were legitimate targets because they were " collaborating " with the " forces of occupation " . As the men were all Protestants , many Protestants saw it as a sectarian attack . The UDA retaliated by shooting dead five Catholic male civilians inside a betting shop on the Ormeau Road , Belfast
an IRA roadside bomb
Teebane bombing
Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade