1993 Fivemiletown ambush

1993 Fivemiletown ambush
Part of the Troubles and Operation Banner
A British soldier watching the scene of the ambush
Date 12 December 1993 Location Fivemiletown, County Tyrone Northern Ireland 54°22′39.62″N 7°19′00″W / 54.3776722°N 7.31667°W / 54.3776722; -7.31667 Result IRA victory
Belligerents
Provisional IRA • East Tyrone Brigade[1]	United Kingdom • RUC • British Army
Strength
2 active service units	1 RUC mobile patrol 1 British Army helicopter
Casualties and losses
None	2 constables killed
class=notpageimage| Location within Northern Ireland

On 12 December 1993, a unit of the Provisional Irish Republican Army's (IRA) East Tyrone Brigade ambushed a two-men unmarked mobile patrol of the RUC in Fivemiletown, County Tyrone. Two constables (Andrew Beacom and Ernest Smith) were shot and killed instantly. A military helicopter was also fired at by a second IRA unit in the aftermath of the incident, during a follow-up operation launched in the surroundings of the town by both the British Army and the RUC. A number of suspects were questioned, but the perpetrators escaped successfully. The action occurred just three days before the Downing Street Declaration.