Jim Sullivan, the local Official IRA commander, feared that the troops would launch a bigger raid and instructed his men to move weapons out of the area. At about 6pm, Provisional IRA volunteers attacked the troops with improvised hand grenades. A number of soldiers suffered leg injuries. As more troops arrived, "the Officials realized that they would have to fight" and Sullivan ordered his men to confront the troops. An Official IRA source later said, "The way we looked at it, we were not going to put up our hands and let them take the weaponry. We didn't want the confrontation, but we couldn't surrender". One source said that 60–70 Official IRA volunteers were involved, while another said 80–90. Each was armed with a rifle and at least one revolver. They exchanged fire with the troops and attacked them with grenades. Hundreds of local youths also pelted the troops with stones and petrol bombs. Journalist Simon Winchester later wrote:To anyone who experienced the battle, it was perfectly obvious that hundreds and hundreds of bullets were being fired by both sides – and yet the Army had the gall, when asked by reporters later in the weekend, to say that its soldiers fired only 15 shots in sum. The official figures were to be published later: soldiers in the Falls that weekend fired no less than 1,457 rounds.