No one would have died in Derry on Bloody Sunday if the IRA had not tried to murder soldiers, a British army commander claimed at the Saville Inquiry today.
But Col Ted Loden also said he did not see any civilians armed with guns or bombs on the day.
Col Loden said he regretted all the deaths on January 30th, 1972, but insisted his men were involved in a heavy gun battle.
He was the major commanding the Parachute Regiment's Support Unit when 13 civil rights marchers were shot dead. A 14th man died later.
Col Loden told the Saville Inquiry in London he clearly recalled hearing a burst of incoming automatic gunfire at an early stage after he got out of an armoured vehicle in the nationalist Bogside area. "It [the gunfire] seemed to come from the area of the Rossville Flats".
Col Loden said that as soon as troops came under fire, the nature of the operation changed and he and the soldiers got back into the vehicle and moved into a position of cover.
"The next 10 minutes involved a heavy exchange of fire," he said. "There were a lot of rounds coming in and my soldiers were firing back".
Col Loden said he did not see any civilians armed with guns or bombs on Bloody Sunday but that he was in no doubt there was incoming fire.
He said nothing about what his troops told him or their manner on the evening of Bloody Sunday caused him to doubt the truthfulness of their accounts of engaging gunmen and bombers.
"Nevertheless, as a human being, I found the loss of life upsetting and thought it very regrettable that anyone had been killed.
"I want to stress, however, that 1 Para went to Londonderry to arrest rioters. If the IRA had not opened fire on my soldiers with murderous intent, no-one would have been killed. It is very important that this point is clear," Col Loden said.
PA