The Workers' Party has denied claims by former associates in Newry that any of its members were involved in orchestrating recent attacks in the town.
At least six attacks were reported between last Thursday and Monday morning. Since then local sources say there have been intimidating telephone calls to businesses and shots have been heard but no target identified.
The first attack took place at 2 a.m. on Thursday when shots were fired and a petrol-bomb was thrown into a house in Strean Street. The victim's car was also petrol-bombed and set on fire.
The single man, who had been a member of the Workers' Party until the Newry group split away almost two years ago, was dozing on a sofa after watching television. He said: "The first shot woke me and I started to look out the window. The car was on fire outside. Then flames came up around me and caught on to my leg. I got between the door and the window and there were three more shots." He later found a bullet had grazed his leg.
About 20 minutes later another car, belonging to a Newry businessman who has long-standing family connections with the republican movement, was petrol-bombed. At about 6.30 a.m. shots were fired into another car and a single shot was fired at a house in Drumalane belonging to a woman with six young children who was identified as an associate of the Newry group which was the focus of the attacks.
Shortly before 7 p.m. on Thursday, two mobile homes were petrol-bombed at a caravan sales park on Old Warrenpoint Road. The park belongs to the businessman whose home was attacked earlier.
At around 4 a.m. on Friday, a car parked outside the home of another group member was destroyed when it was fire-bombed on the Armagh Road. At about 8 p.m. shots were fired at the house of another group member in Drumalane. The next attack was at 11 p.m. on Sunday when seven shots were fired into a car, and two further shots were fired into a car belonging to another member, in his 60s, living in Derrybeg Estate.
According to one source, town residents heard a burst of semiautomatic fire late on Tuesday night. Members of the group under attack claim Official IRA figures from Belfast were involved along with men from Bessbrook who linked up with them. The group includes former Workers' Party members who split from the party at the 1997 ardfheis. Some members now style themselves the Official Republican Movement. This group issued a statement on Tuesday saying: "This gang, who are believed to be based in the Bessbrook area, are heightening their campaign of violence and intimidation with new weaponry delivered from Belfast. "Shots are being fired nightly into homes and cars throughout the town. Business people are receiving threatening phone calls as to who should frequent their premises and that they will have their premises burned down by the Official IRA. It is only a matter of time before they kill or seriously injure someone."
A Workers' Party spokesman said: "We have no branch in Newry. We expelled a number of people and we dissolved our branch at the time, and have not been organised in the area since that time. That is the position as far as we would be concerned. We are aware that people are making accusations and it is a matter for the police."