British army blamed for Bloody Sunday

A long-anticipated inquiry into the 1972 killings in Northern Ireland known as Bloody Sunday has placed the blame on the British soldiers.

The investigation, which took more than 12 years to complete and cost nearly GBP 191 million, announced that the 13 victims of the incident were killed "unlawfully."

The victims were taking part in a civil rights march in Derry, Northern Ireland, when British troops opened fire on them.

The report stated that the order to fire should not have been issued as the marchers were unarmed.

According to the inquiry, which heard 2,500 witnesses, none of the people shot dead on Bloody Sunday was armed or "posing a threat of causing death or serious injury."

A previously issued report had concluded that the British Army had been fired on first and some of those dead had been carrying bombs and guns.

Tuesday's report went on to blame the British paratroopers for giving no warnings before firing, and lying to the official inquiry into the incident.

Meanwhile, the families of those killed and injured marched in silence in the Guildhall square in Derry just before the report was released.

Jean Hegarty, whose 17-year-old brother Kevin McElhinney was killed on Bloody Sunday, said she wanted the British soldiers to explain their actions in court, adding, however, that she did not necessarily want them to be sent to prison.

"If they've done something wrong they should be prosecuted," she said. "[But] I have no great desire to see a 60-year-old man go to jail."

Meanwhile, lawyers for the families of the Bloody Sunday victims are expected to press murder charges against the shooters along with the UK Ministry of Defense.

However, chairman of the inquiry Lord Saville is not likely to recommend prosecution, and Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to refer the decision to the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.

British army blamed for Bloody Sunday