3rd Catholic in 10 Days Slain in North Ireland

BELFAST, Northern Ireland —  A Roman Catholic cabdriver was shot to death while going to pick up a fare in a mixed neighborhood of Belfast, police said Sunday. The driver, identified as Martin Duffy, 28, was the third Catholic to die violently in the province in the past 10 days. Police said he was shot in the head, chest and back.

A group calling itself the Protestant Action Force claimed responsibility for the killing in anonymous calls to Belfast media. The group became known publicly when it reported having killed two other Catholics this month. Nothing is known about its membership or aims. Hostilities have increased in Northern Ireland as Protestant militants resist the Anglo-Irish agreement granting the mainly Catholic Irish Republic a voice in the province’s affairs.