Clonoe ambush The Clonoe ambush happened on 16 February 1992 in the village of Clonoe , County Tyrone , Northern Ireland . A local Provisional Irish Republican Army ( IRA ) unit was ambushed by the Special Air Service at a graveyard after launching a heavy machine gun attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary ( RUC ) base in Coalisland . IRA members Peter Clancy , Kevin Barry O ' Donnell , Seán O ' Farrell and Patrick Vincent were killed , while two others escaped . An SAS soldier was wounded in the operation . Background . From 1985 onwards , the IRA in East Tyrone had been the forefront of a wide IRA campaign against British military facilities . In 1987 , an East Tyrone IRA unit was ambushed and eight of its members killed by the SAS while bombing an RUC base at Loughgall , County Armagh . This was the IRA ' s greatest loss of life in a single incident during the Troubles . Despite these losses , the IRA campaign continued unabated ; 33 British bases were destroyed and nearly 100 damaged during the next five years . The SAS ambush had no noticeable long - term effect on the level of IRA activity in East Tyrone . In the two years before the Loughgall ambush the IRA killed seven people in East Tyrone and North Armagh , and eleven in the two years following the ambush . Another three IRA members — Gerard Harte , Martin Harte and Brian Mullin — had been ambushed and killed by the SAS as they tried to kill an off - duty Ulster Defence Regiment soldier near Carrickmore , County Tyrone . British intelligence identified them as the perpetrators of the Ballygawley bus bombing , which killed eight British soldiers . After that bombing , all troops on leave or returning from leave were ferried in and out of East Tyrone by helicopter . Another high - profile attack of the East Tyrone Brigade was carried out on 11 January 1990 near Augher , where a Gazelle helicopter was shot down . On 3 June 1991 , three IRA men , Lawrence McNally , Michael Ryan and Tony Doris , died in another SAS ambush at Coagh , where their car was riddled with gunfire . Michael Ryan was the same man who according to Ed Moloney had led the mixed flying column which assaulted a British Army checkpoint at Derryard under direct orders of top IRA Army Council member ' Slab ' Murphy two years before . Moloney , who wrote " A Secret History of the IRA " , and author Brendan O ' Brien said that the IRA East Tyrone Brigade lost 53 members during the Troubles — the highest of any " Brigade area " . Of these , 28 were killed between 1987 and 1992 . The ambush . On 20 February 1992 at 22 : 30 , a car and a truck carrying a number of IRA members drove into the centre of Coalisland and stopped at the fortified RUC / British Army base . The unit opened fire on the base at point - blank with armour - piercing tracer ammunition . They had mounted a heavy DShK machine - gun on the back of the lorry . The machine - gun was manned by Kevin O ' Donnell . The two vehicles then fled up the Annagher hill and drove past the house of Tony Doris , an IRA member killed the previous year . There they spent the last rounds of ammunition firing in the air and shouting , " Up the ' RA , that ' s for Tony Doris ! " . The IRA unit was intercepted by the SAS at the car park of St Patrick ' s Roman Catholic church in Clonoe . The unit was trying to dump the truck and escape in cars . The roof of the church was set on fire by SAS flares . Three of the dead were found around the truck , while the fourth was caught in a fence outside the church grounds . The machine - gun had been partially dismantled . At least two IRA men got away from the scene , but the four named above were killed . One SAS soldier was wounded . One witness said that some of the IRA men were trying to surrender but were then killed by the SAS . Internal IRA criticism . A local IRA source pointed - out a number of flaws in the operation that led to the deaths of the volunteers . First of all : the use of a long - range weapon for a point - blank shooting . The DShK could be used up to 2 , 000 meters from the target , and its armour - piercing capabilities at 1 , 500 meters are still considerable . The tracer rounds were not the best option , since the firing location , if not executed from a well - hidden position , is easily spotted . The escape route was chosen at random , with the machine - gun in full sight and the support vehicle flashing its hazard lights . The gathering of so many men at the same place after such an attack was another factor in the getaway ' s failure . Other republican sources claim that a listening device was found in the roof of O ' Farrell ' s house during repairs in 2008 , exposing that the British intelligence had a forehand knowledge of the IRA operation at Coalisland and could have arrested them before the attack or at the churchyard . Aftermath . During the funeral service for Kevin O ' Donnell and Seán O ' Farrell in Coalisland , the parish priest criticised the security forces for what happened at Clonoe church , claiming that this wasn ' t the way to win the hearts and minds of the Irish nationalist community . He was equally critical of the republican leaders , to whom he appealed " to bring violence to an end " . Francis Molloy , then a local Sinn Féin councillor , walked out of the church in protest . Leading republicans Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness , who also attended the service , remained in their seats . There were many armed RUC officers outside the church during the funeral , the RUC having changed its policy after the Milltown Cemetery attack . This show of force was criticised as it " ensured new young recruits to the IRA " . This was the last time that IRA members were killed by the SAS in Northern Ireland . The growing tension among local nationalists led to an open confrontation with soldiers of the Parachute Regiment in Coalisland three months later .