Murdered soldiers were on their way to Afghanistan

Two British soldiers shot dead outside a military barracks in the North were wearing desert fatigues and just minutes away from leaving for Afghanistan, it was revealed today.

They were ambushed by terrorists firing automatic rifles as they were about to take delivery of pizzas before catching a flight to Helmand.

The ruthlessness of the shootings which rocked the peace process and shocked political representatives in Belfast, London and Dublin, left two other soldiers badly wounded. Two delivery men were also hit, one critically.

Security chiefs believe the gunmen were prepared to murder all six in front of the main gates of the Massereene Barracks at Antrim. At one stage the killers stood over their victims and fired a second volley.

Chief Constable Hugh Orde who had earlier called in undercover soldiers to carry out surveillance operations in a bid to thwart a heightening threat against his officers, ruled out putting troops back on the streets.

But the planning and execution of this double-murder after a series of failed attacks over the past two years will mean an immediate and urgent review of security measures.

There are an estimated 200-300 dissident republicans active in the North, and even though no more than a dozen may have been directly involved, detectives believe the two masked gunmen who opened up before being driven off in a getaway car on Saturday night were clearly experienced in the use of high powered weaponry.

Mr Orde said: “This was an act by an increasingly desperate small group of increasingly desperate people who are determined to drag 99% of this community back to where they don’t want to go.”

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Taoiseach Brian Cowen insisted the killings would not disrupt the peace process. However the Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and the deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness have delayed a planned visit to the United States which was due to end next Tuesday with a St Patrick’s Day meeting with President Obama at the White House.

The names of the dead soldiers have been withheld until all their relatives have been informed. They were due to fly out of RAF Aldergrove, just a few miles away from their base in the early hours of today.

It departed with four empty seats, and even then the flight had to be held up until investigating police officers finished interviewing other soldiers who were near or close to the main gates at the time of the attack.

The gunmen were obviously aware that soldiers at the Massereene Barracks followed a regular routine on Saturday nights when as many as 20 separate orders were made for pizza to be delivered.

They waited until the troops, all dressed in desert fatigues, emerged through the gates to pick up the food. One burst of automatic fire was followed by another just seconds later as the four soldiers and the two delivery men – one of them was Polish – lay wounded on the ground.

All sides in Belfast denounced the attack, and even though Sinn Féin’s condemnation stopped short of expressing sympathy for the soldiers and their families, Mr McGuinness, a former IRA leader in Derry, demanded the dissidents call off their campaign.