Monday's papers

Most of the front pages this morning focus on the attack on an army barracks in Northern Ireland by the IRA.

Return of the IRA assassins says the Mail,return of IRA terrorism says the Telegraph which reports that police and MI5 have begun investigating alibis for 200 known republican dissidents as they seek to find the gunmen who carried out the execution-style murders of two soldiers outside their barracks in Northern Ireland.

The Sun simply headlines Executed by IRA cowards

BRITAIN was last night reeling from a horrific flashback to Ulster’s darkest days — after two shot soldiers were revealed to have died bravely shielding victims from a terrorist massacre.

The Times claims that Security guards stood by as gunmen killed Northern Ireland soldiers reporting that

Armed security guards employed to protect the military base in Northern Ireland where two soldiers were shot dead did not open fire on the terrorists, even when they stood over the injured men and fired further shots.

The Guardian meanwhile says that politicians and communities from across the religious divide united yesterday in condemnation of dissident republican paramilitaries adding that

In a historic moment for Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness last night backed the police manhunt and denounced the attackers

The Independent is the only major paper not to lead with the story.It prefers to report an interview with James Purnell in which he reveals that the Government is to launch a multi million-pound drive to tackle white collar unemployment as the toll of job losses among professionals, executives and managers mounts.

Meanwhile the Express leads with the news that

NINE out of 10 cancer deaths could be prevented after scientists searching for a cure discovered a “missing piece in the jigsaw”.

The missing piece is an enzyme that allows cancer to spread throughout the body.