Czech Vz70 7.65 mm self-loading pistol used by Irish Republican Army, 1978 (c)

The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) directly purchased small arms from Czechoslovakia in the 1970s while Czech-made assault rifles and Semtex explosives were supplied to the organisation by Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi's Libyan regime in the 1980s. The latter shipments were a result of Gaddafi's desire to strike at the British Government for their support and assistance during the US Air Force's bombing attacks on Tripoli and Benghazi in 1986.