Timeline of Ulster Defence Association actions
This is a timeline of actions by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), a loyalist paramilitary group formed in 1971. Most of these actions took place during the conflict known as "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland. The UDA's declared goal was to defend Loyalist areas from attack and to combat Irish republican paramilitaries. However, most of its victims were Irish Catholic civilians, who were often chosen at random. It used the name Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) when it wished to claim responsibility for its attacks and avoid political embarrassment, as the UDA was a  legal organisation for much of its history. The UFF usually claimed that those targeted were Provisional Irish Republican Army members or IRA sympathizers. Other times, attacks on Catholic civilians were claimed as "retaliation" for IRA actions, since the IRA drew most of its support from Catholics. Such retaliation was seen as both collective punishment and an attempt to weaken the IRA's support. However, during 1972 the organisation openly claimed responsibility for several gun and bomb attacks using the UDA title.