On 9 December 2001, a group of 100 Irish republicans attacked two watchtowers and a police station in South Armagh, Northern Ireland.

The crowd then attacked nearby Drummackavall watchtower in a similar assault before moving to the Crossmaglen police station, where they breached the entrance and fired missiles and petrol bombs at security forces.

[2][3] The riots followed a protest by members of Sinn Féin's youth wing dissatisfied with the slow process of demilitarisation promised by the British government, a key demand of Sinn Féin in the Northern Ireland peace process.

The attack was condemned by assembly members including John Fee, but Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy claimed the mob had no weapons and were met with a "violent reaction" at Crossmaglen police station, where officers fired plastic bullets that injured some of them.

In a separate incident that day rioters attacked a car in north Belfast that injured an eight-year-old girl.