Two British soldiers have been shot dead and four others injured in an attack at Massereene army base in Antrim, 16 miles north of Belfast. Of the four injured - two were soldiers and two civilian.

Accounts indicate that a car or van pulled up at the main gate. Witnesses described hearing long bursts of gunfire.

It is believed that dissident Republicans may be behind the attack.

These are the first British soldiers killed in N.Ireland since Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick was killed by an IRA sniper in 1997.

It should be pointed out that the Massereene attack has been criticized by Sinn Fein. Gerry Adams has described it as 'an attack on the peace process' and says it won't derail the determination to seek a united Ireland by democratic means.

The attack in Antrim came shortly after Sir Hugh Orde, chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, asked the Special Reconnaissance Regiment to assist in gathering intelligence on dissident Republican groups.

There have been incidents in the recent past involving dissident Republicans. In 2008 there was was an attempt to kill PSNI officers in separate incidents in Derry and Dungannon.

In February 2009 a 300 lb bomb was defused in Castlewellan close to a barracks.

There has been an increase in dissident activity over the past few years. In 2008 Brit security services said that 60% of electronic intercepts were coming from Irish dissidents. There was a claim at the time that Irish dissidents pose a greater threat to the UK than home-grown jihadists.

Lately the groups have been breaking up into smaller units which is why Orde likely called on the Special Reconnaissance Regiment for assistance in intelligence gathering. RIRA has apparently divided into four micro-groups and CIRA has also split up.

Martin McGuinness, deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, has been critical of the decision to use the SRR for intelligence gathering. He characterized the move as "damaging". He further added that it was "stupid" and "dangerous"... and that it "sent out a very negative message" in dealing with a threat that McGuinness believes is being overinflated.

McGuinness is right on the mark. Setting the SRR on dissident micro-groups is like stepping back into the past and is bound to inflame the situation. It appears that Orde's foolhardy decision could have been a factor in this attack.

Link here for some additional background on dissident Irish Republican groups.