BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- One policeman was killed by a car bomb and another was shot dead in separate attacks believed to be by the IRA Wednesday night and Thursday in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, a Royal Ulster Constabulary spokesman said.
Off-duty RUC Constable Reginald Williamson, 46, was killed Wednesday night near the town of Moy in North Armagh when a bomb, believed to have been attached to the underside of his car by magnets, exploded.
The outlawed Catholic paramilitary group the Irish Republican Army claimed responsibility for the attack.
Williamson's girlfriend, Jennifer Hill, was following his car in another vehicle but was not injured in the blast.
Hill, who cradled the dying officer in her arms, later told reporters: 'These are cruel, cruel people. They killed a very good man who would have helped anybody. They have achieved nothing.
'He was a Protestant and I am a Catholic. He had no political aspirations and only wanted to help people.'
Williamson, the father of a 19-year-old son and 17-year-old daughter, was attached to the Gough barracks in Armagh and had served in the RUC for 18 years, RUC spokesman Sgt. Ray Kerr said.
The police commander in Armagh condemned the killing as 'a cowardly murder which is a crime against the entire community.'
'Reggie Williamson, as he was known, was a dedicated officer who served with distinction and honor,' the commander said in a statement. 'He was well known and well respected by all his colleagues and also by a wide section of the community. His loss is a matter of great regret. He will be sadly missed.'
Williamson's brother Freddie, who was a member of the British army's Ulster Defense Regiment, was killed by the Irish National Liberation Army in 1982 when his car was ambushed by gunmen in the same area.
Just hours after the bombing, another police officer was killed by a gunshot while accompanying an army patrol in a field off Castleblaney Road in the town of Crossmaglen in South Armagh, an RUC spokesman said. The man's name was not released.
The spokesman said detectives investigating the killing believe a marksman operating for the IRA carried out the shooting.
The dead officer was the third member of the British security forces to be shot dead by a single sniper in South Armagh in the past three months.
