<Li> Roermond killings (Netherlands) </Li> <Li> Osnabrück barracks (Germany) </Li> <P> Operation Banner was the operational name for the British Armed Forces' operation in Northern Ireland from August 1969 to July 2007, as part of the Troubles . It was the longest continuous deployment in the British military's history . The British Army was initially deployed, at the request of the unionist government of Northern Ireland, in response to the August 1969 riots . Its role was to support the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and to assert the authority of the British government in Northern Ireland . At the peak of the operation in the 1970s, about 21,000 British troops were deployed, most of them from Britain . As part of the operation, a new locally - recruited regiment was also formed: the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR). After the 1998 Belfast Agreement, the operation was gradually scaled down and the vast majority of British troops were withdrawn . </P> <P> According to the Ministry of Defence, 1,441 serving British military personnel died in Operation Banner; 722 of whom were killed in paramilitary attacks, and 719 of whom died as a result of other causes . The British military killed 306 people during the operation, about 51% of whom were civilians and 41% of whom were members of republican paramilitaries . </P>

When did british troops withdraw from northern ireland