© BBC/PAPolice are investigating the 1972 fatal shooting of Patrick McVeigh in west Belfast.
PSNI detectives investigating the Military Reaction Force, a top secret, Army-run unit operating in Belfast in the early '70s have appealed to the public for information.
They want to know about the activities of the MRF in 1972 in relation to two fatal shootings and a number of other attacks.
Detective Chief Inspector Peter Montgomery, from Legacy Investigation Branch, said: "We have been carrying out enquiries in relation to a number of shooting incidents between April and September 1972, during which two people were killed and a number of others were injured. We are looking at these incidents as part of an overall investigation into the activities of the Military Reaction Force at the time.
"We know these events took place a long time ago and we know they took place during one of the worst years of the Troubles when many shootings occurred but we believe there are people out there who can help us progress this investigation and we are appealing to them to contact us."
The Military Reaction Force was also referred to as the Military Reconnaissance Force and the Mobile Reconnaissance Force.
It was a covert intelligence-gathering and counter-insurgency unit that operated during the Troubles/ and under Operation Banner.
PSNI have been carrying out enquiries in relation to a number of shooting incidents between April and September 1972
Unit members only ever operated amongst civilians in plain-clothes and using civilian vehicles.
And their fire arms capacity included pistols and sub-machine guns.
A security source said: "The MRF was a track and destroy unit. Their work was to scout out and arrest or kill the IRA, specific members on order or random targets if they got lucky. They were a machine and worked off grid as such but they were still in contact with their command in Northern Ireland throughout their existence. And like all military groupings, they had people working both sides so their information was often very good."
One former member of the unit has described it as a "legalised death squad".
Soldiers in its ranks were accused of colluding with loyalist paramilitary gangs.
Comment: Listen to the Behind the Headlines interview with British journalist, author and human rights advocate Anne Cadwallader about UK government collusion with and use of terrorists in Ireland, or read the transcript here.
In October 1972, the Provos uncovered and attacked two of the MRF's front companies - a mobile laundry service and a massage parlour and the MRF was disbanded shortly afterwards.
Today the PSNI are actively investigating nine attacks, including two fatal shootings.
They are:
· The fatal shooting of 44-year-old Patrick McVeigh and shootings of four other men, aged 18, 25, 26 and 41, in the Riverdale Park area of West Belfast on 12 May, 1972.
· The fatal shooting of 18-year-old Daniel Rooney and shooting of a 18 year old man in the St James Crescent area of West Belfast on 26 September, 1972.
· The shooting of 2 brothers, aged 19 and 30, in the Whiterock Road area of West Belfast, at approximately 8am on 15 April, 1972.
· The shooting of an 18-year-old man in the Glen Road area of West Belfast at approximately 9pm on 6 May, 1972.
· The shooting of a 15-year-old boy outside a disco at Oliver Plunkett School, Glen Road, Belfast, at approximately 11:50pm on 7 May, 1972.
· The shooting of an 18-year-old man in the Slievegallion area of West Belfast at approximately 11:30pm on 12 May, 1972
· The shooting at a 34-year-old man in the Silvio Street area of North Belfast at approximately 12:20pm on 26 May, 1972.
· The shooting of four men, aged 18, 19, 21 and 28, in the Glen Road area of West Belfast, at approximately 12 midday, on 22 June, 1972.
· An incident during which a white Austin Morris vehicle, VRM COI8368, was shot at by a male who got out of what is believed to have been a stalled vehicle in the Kashmir Road area of West Belfast at approximately 2pm on 9 May, 1972.
Detective Chief Inspector Montgomery added: "Some of these incidents have been investigated before and people have been arrested or appeared in court in relation to some of them. There are also others which have not been investigated until now.
"But in order to progress this investigation, I need as much information from the public as possible. I am appealing to anyone who witnessed any of the shootings or anyone who has any further information in relation to them to come forward and talk to us. I also want to speak to former members of the MRF who served in Northern Ireland and would ask them to come forward and speak to my officers.
"I appreciate these incidents took place a long time ago but I believe there are people in the community and elsewhere today who were witnesses to them, remember them or talked about them. I need their help to progress this part of the overall investigation. I need the help and the support of the local community so if you think you can help, please contact uson 028 92589128, or email us on LIBEnquiries@psni.pnn.police.uk
During the Whiterock Road incident on April 1972, brothers Gerry and John Conway, both Catholic civilians, were walking along Whiterock Road with the intention of catching a bus.
As they approached St Thomas's School, a car stopped and three men got out and shot at them with pistols.
The brothers ran but both were shot and wounded and witnesses told the RUC at the time that one of the gunmen ran to the car and spoke into a handset radio.
It is thought that later two armoured Army personnel carriers arrived a conversation between the uniformed soldiers and other men in plain clothes followed.
The brothers were taken by ambulance to the Royal Victoria Hospital.
And the British Army told the media that a patrol had encountered two wanted men and the patrol had returned fire when they were shot at.
But in a 1978 interview, a former MRF member claimed he had been one of the gunmen and confirmed that he believed the brothers were unarmed, but claimed his patrol had mistaken the brothers for two IRA men whom the MRF were ordered to "shoot on sight".
More than 20 years ago, British Junior Defence Minister Jeremy Hanley responded to a parliamentary written question about the MRF.
He said: "The MRF was a small military unit which, during the period 1971 to 1973, was responsible for carrying out surveillance tasks in Northern Ireland in those circumstances where soldiers in uniform and with Army vehicles would be too easily recognised."
A British soldier surveys the aftermath of the bombing of McGurk's Bar
The UVF detonated a time bomb at the door of McGurk's public house in Belfast causing the building to collapse.
A total of 15 Catholic civilians were killed and an other 17 more were injured.
The book Killing For Britain was written by former UVF member 'John Black' and published six years ago, the author claimed that the MRF organised the bombing and helped the bombers get in and out of the area.
Comment: See also: Strategy of Tension in Ireland: Sectarian 'divide & rule' was started, and is maintained, by British secret police
For many other examples of similar covert 'acts of domestic terrorism' by intelligence agencies watch the excellent documentary Strategy of Tension.
'Gladio' style, 'false flag' operations are an effective tool for keeping the populace fearful and therefore compliant and seeking increased protection from the very creators of that manufactured chaos and terror. This 'modus operandi' will invariably continue until people become more informed as to the real nature of the 'terrorist threat'.
Further reading: