The British government is to pay compensation to the victims and relatives of those killed in the 1972 Bloody Sunday crackdown in Northern Ireland.

The amount of the payments has not been disclosed, nor the basis on which compensation will be granted, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement to the lawyers representing victims' families.

A ministry spokeswoman said: "We acknowledge the pain felt by these families for nearly 40 years, and that members of the armed forces acted wrongly.

"For that, the government is deeply sorry. We are in contact with the families' lawyers and where there is a legal liability to pay compensation we will do so."

Bloody Sunday marked one of the darkest chapters of the decades-old sectarian unrest in Northern Ireland known as the "Troubles".

The Saville Report found that all victims were unarmed

Exhaustive investigation

Thirteen people were shot dead by British soldiers in the town of Londonderry after they had gathered for an unauthorized protest march for greater civil rights. A 14th victim died weeks later in hospital.

British soldiers had claimed the protesters, most of whom were Catholic, were brandishing firearms and nail bombs. An initial investigation carried out after the incident largely exonerated the soldiers.

However, in 1998, then-prime minister Tony Blair announced a new examination into the killings on the back of fresh evidence. After 12 years of exhaustive investigation, current Prime Minister David Cameron said on the release of a final report into Bloody Sunday that all those shot had been unarmed.

Cameron told parliament the Saville Report unequivocally showed there was no justification for the shooting of civilians.

The 5,000-page report revealed that the troops continued to shoot as the protesters fled or lay fatally wounded on the ground. One father was shot as he went to tend to his injured son.

"What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong," Cameron said last year. "For that, on behalf of the government, and indeed our country, I am deeply sorry."

Author: Darren Mara (AP, AFP, Reuters)

Editor: Rob Turner