A NUMBER of people were being questioned last night about the IRA

murder of two policemen in County Tyrone early yesterday.

There was widespread revulsion and condemnation of the killing. The

two officers were shot as they drove their unmarked Renault 21 through

the small town during the early hours.

They were arrested during a major security operation in the area

around Fivemiletown after extra police and troops were airlifted to the

scene.

Two gunmen stepped from the shadows in the town centre and opened fire

on the car from both sides. More than 20 shots were fired and the RUC

men died instantly.

The policemen were named last night as Constable William John Andrew

Beacom, 46, and Reserve Constable Ernest Frederic Smith, 49. Both were

married with children.

RUC Chief Constable Sir Hugh Annesley described it as a ''senseless

act of barbarity carried out in such a cowardly fashion by faceless

criminals''.