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The New IRA has offered 'full and sincere apologies' after its members shot dead journalist Lyra McKee in Londonderry - and has promised to 'take the utmost care in future'.

The apology and vow were made in a statement to the Irish Times which admitted responsibility for the killing.

The Republican splinter group said Ms McKee had died 'in the course of attacking the enemy' and insisted it would tell its members to 'take the utmost care in future'.

A New IRA gunman shot the 29-year-old journalist in the head on Thursday night, while targeting police during riots in the Creggan estate. The killing has been widely condemned across the political spectrum and sparked fears of a return to sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

The statement read: "On Thursday night following an incursion on the Creggan by heavily armed British crown forces which provoked rioting, the IRA deployed our volunteers to engage.

"'We have instructed our volunteers to take the utmost care in future when engaging the enemy, and put in place measures to help ensure this.

(Image: (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

"In the course of attacking the enemy Lyra McKee was tragically killed while standing beside enemy forces.

"The IRA offer our full and sincere apologies to the partner, family and friends of Lyra McKee for her death."

The New IRA - which has accepted responsibility for the murder of journalist Lyra McKee - is the biggest of the dissident republican groups operating in Northern Ireland.

It has been linked with four murders, including Pc Ronan Kerr, who was killed by an under-car bomb in Omagh in 2011.

The group is also linked to the deaths of prison officers David Black, who was shot as he drove to work at Maghaberry Prison in 2012, and Adrian Ismay, who died in 2016 after a bomb exploded under his van outside his home in east Belfast.

The New IRA is believed to have been formed between 2011 and 2012 following the merger of a number of smaller groups, including the Real IRA - the group behind the 1998 Omagh bomb.

It is strongest in Londonderry, north and west Belfast, Strabane in Co Derry, Lurgan in Co Armagh, and pockets of Tyrone.

(Image: Photo by PSNI via Getty Images)

This year the group was responsible for a car bomb outside the courthouse in Bishop Street, Derry.

The explosives-laden car was left on the city centre street on a Saturday night in January, and scores of people, including a group of teenagers, had walked past before it detonated.

The New IRA also claimed a number package bombs posted to targets in London and Glasgow in March.

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