Shortcomings in basic security at the barracks in Northern Ireland where two soldiers were killed in cold blood by terrorists were at the centre of a Province-wide review yesterday.

The civilian guard nearest the gate was armed with only a pistol when the three Real IRA gunmen struck, firing more than 60 rounds from automatic weapons.

Yesterday it emerged that the Ministry of Defence had been carrying out a review of the Northern Ireland Security Guard Service (NISGS) for about a year, amid concerns that it was not up to the job of protecting British soldiers from terrorists. An MoD official said that the purpose of the review was to “make sure it could operate effectively in response to any threat”.

The two unarmed soldiers were killed outside Massereene Barracks in Co Antrim on Saturday night as they took delivery of pizzas. Two more soldiers and two pizza deliverymen were injured. All four were still in hospital last night.

The security review is looking at the range of responses available to the guard service and whether there were sufficient numbers on duty at a time when the terrorist threat level had been raised from “substantial” to “severe”.

Lord West of Spithead, the Security Minister, was asked about the attack at the launch of a national security forum to advise the Government. He said that counter-terrorism resources would be reassessed. “It was a dreadful atrocity,” he said. “We knew these splinter groups were forming, I just hope we get hold of [those responsible] very quickly.”

The NISGS was established in 1998 with the aim of creating a community-friendly force. The primary job of the guards at Massereene was “to deter terrorist infiltration of, and attack on, military establishments”, the ministry said.

Recruits were largely found from Northern Ireland and were often ex-servicemen. Like their counterparts on the mainland, they were trained to fire sidearms and nonautomatic carbines but to underline the softer image required to measure up to the political sensitivities of guarding bases in the Province, the civilian security officers of the NISGS were banned from wearing combat fatigues and were put into blue uniforms.

The force is 450 strong and its members are trained to use their weapons in anger only for self-protection and the protection of others. The ministry said that their role was to control access to each of the regular military locations and to be ready for “first-response tasks”, but it was reluctant to spell out what range of weaponry was available to the guards at the barracks.

The routine duty weapon would be a 9mm Browning pistol, tucked into a holster at the side. At the airbases and barracks on the mainland where Armed Forces personnel still perform guard duties, they always carry SA80 rifles slung across the chest, ready for action in the event of an incident.

On the mainland, there is a mixture of forces available for guard duties. In addition to members of the Armed Forces, there is the 3,500-strong MoD Police, who are armed with 9mm pistols and MP7 carbines and guard sensitive places such as nuclear facilities; the Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), armed ex-servicemen employed at many military facilities; and a nonarmed MoD Guard Service, responsible for the security of MoD property and buildings. The Northern Ireland guard service is separate from these organisations, but the MoD insisted that the principles of guarding duties were identical.

The MoD Police on the mainland, however, conduct armed patrols inside and outside the wire and follow standard police rules on the use of firearms.

The NISGS is allowed to carry out only internal-base patrolling. The civilian guards are paid Civil Service rates for supervisors, with a salary band ranging from £13,881 to £17,072, comparable to an army private, plus an “arming allowance” of £636.

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