Bloody Sunday Trial Of British Ex-soldier To Open In Belfast

British troops opened fire on protesters in the majority Catholic Bogside area of Londonderry on January 30, 1972, killing 13 people -- a 14th later dying of his injuries (Credit: AFP)

The first ever trial of a former British soldier accused of murdering victims of the Bloody Sunday massacre opens Monday in Belfast, in a landmark moment in Northern Ireland's conflict-scarred recent history.

The ex-paratrooper -- identified only as "Soldier F" -- faces two murder and five attempted murder charges over the 1972 atrocity, one of the most significant events in the three-decade-long "Troubles" that plagued the British territory.