Continuity IRA Claims Deadly Dublin Shooting

Irish republican militant group the Continuity IRA on Monday claimed responsibility for a deadly shooting at a boxing weigh-in event in Dublin last week and warned of similar attacks in future.

"This will not be an isolated incident," a man claiming to be a spokesman for the dissident republican group said in a statement to the BBC.

"CIRA units have been authorized to carry out further operations. More drug dealers and criminals will be targeted," said the spokesman, who the BBC said had provided a code word to back up his claim.

One man, identified as 33-year-old David Byrne, was killed and two others were injured in Friday's shooting at the Regency Hotel in north Dublin.

The spokesman claimed the dead man was targeted because he had been involved in the killing in Dublin in 2012 of a member of the Real IRA, another republican group.

Irish police have set up checkpoints on roads amid fears of retaliation.

The police said at least six people were involved in the shooting -- three of them uniformed and helmeted and carrying automatic weapons.

A man disguised as a woman also took part, they said.

Irish newspapers on Sunday published a photograph from the incident which showed two suspected attackers dressed in balaclavas and police-style uniforms and armed with assault rifles.

Another picture showed figures armed with handguns, one apparently wearing a wig, running from the scene which took place at the weigh-in for a "Clash of the Clans" boxing match.

The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) formally ended its military campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland in 2005.

The PIRA and dissident splinter groups that emerged since frequently carried out vigilante attacks on suspected drug dealers.

The police had said they believed the shooting was the result of a feud between organized crime gangs.

Contacted by AFP, they declined to comment following the claim of responsibility by the Continuity IRA.