SINN FEIN has criticised a vow by the new head of the armed forces to stamp on bogus claims against Troubles veterans as “extremely insulting”.

Taking up the top post, the new head of the armed forces praised the “remarkable job” done by the British Army in Northern Ireland and said groundless allegations against soldiers risked undermining the Army’s fighting spirit.

Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter spoke out about Northern Ireland veterans being “chased by people making vexatious claims” of wrongdoing, vowing: “That will not happen on my watch.”

Sinn Fein Mid Ulster MLA Linda Dillon described his comments as “extremely insulting and hurtful”.

She also challenged Sir Nick to meet with families who have made claims over the actions of soldiers.

“I would call on the British Chief of the Defence Staff to provide evidence of any such ‘vexatious claims’,” Ms Dillon said.

“These comments are extremely insulting and will provide further hurt to families and victims of the conflict, some of whom have waited over 40 years for closure by way of an Article 2 investigation or inquest or the timely provision of disclosure in relation to the circumstances surrounding the death of their loved ones.

“During the conflict, state forces operated with impunity and we will resist any attempt to legalise this policy, which constituted an integral aspect of the British government’s sustained abuse of the human rights of Irish citizens both during and after the conflict.”

However, Ulster Unionist MLA and former soldier Doug Beattie praised the comments from Sir Nick.

“I welcome General Sir Nick Carter’s statement,” he said.

“We need to have standards; we need to have values that people are held against otherwise we will lose the moral high ground

“The position we start from in Northern Ireland is one of imbalance. Terrorists have been able to avail of early release from prison, royal prerogatives of mercy or royal pardons, and over 200 ‘letters of comfort’ by the Blair government. Too many people have lost sight of the fact that 99% of victims during the Troubles were due to terrorists.”