Thiepval barracks bombing

The Provisional IRA ended its 1994 ceasefire on 9 February 1996, when a massive truck bomb went off in the London Docklands area, resulting in two deaths and causing huge damage, especially around the South Quay railway station. The IRA strategy was to pressure the British government by bombing England, but without rejecting the peace process and without returning to full-scale operations. At first, there were no prospects of resuming the campaign in Northern Ireland, to defuse potential all-out sectarian violence. However, a series of successful police raids in England led to a decision by the IRA to restart its operations in Northern Ireland.