In 1975 and 1976 , as sectarian violence increased in Northern Ireland , the South Armagh Republican Action Force , allegedly a cover-name for the South Armagh Brigade , carried out two attacks against Protestants . In September 1975 they attacked an Orange lodge in Newtownhamilton , killing five members of the lodge . Then , in January 1976 , after a series of loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force ( UVF ) attacks on Catholic civilians in the border areas ( including the Reavey and O'Dowd killings the previous day ) , the group shot and killed ten Protestant workmen in the " Kingsmill massacre " near Bessbrook . The workers ' bus was stopped and the one Catholic worker taken aside before the others were killed . In response , the British government stated that it was dispatching the Special Air Service ( SAS ) to South Armagh , although the SAS had been present in the area for many years . While loyalist attacks on Catholics temporarily declined afterwards and many Protestants became more reluctant to help the UVF , the massacre caused considerable controversy in the republican movement
Reavey and O'Dowd killings
Reavey and O'Dowd killings
Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade