Feuding continues as police move in

A shooting in north Belfast which left a man seriously injured has been blamed on the unionist paramilitary feud as police efforts to mount a crackdown have led to serious rioting.

The injured man is reported to have links with the Loyalist Volunteer Force. Its feud with the Ulster Volunteer Force has claimed three lives in recent weeks.

LOYALISTS RIOT

In a separate incident, a pipe-bomb was discovered at Brookfield Mill on Crumlin Road on Sunday. It is believed to have been abandoned by those involved in rioting in the area last Thursday.

Heavy clashes broke out following the arrest of six men after police raided a total of 15 homes, nearly all in the north of the city. The men were all released without charge on Saturday.

Three cars and a lorry being hijacked and set alight, while police fired 11 plastic bullets.

A blast bomb was thrown at police lines, while a bus was completely destroyed and ten other vehicles were damaged.

The PSNI blamed the Ulster Volunteer Force for orchestrating the disturbances.

“These people had wheelie bins full of bricks and bottles, they had so many petrol bombs that we actually stopped counting how many were thrown at our officers and blast bombs,” the local police chief said.

Local Sinn Féin councillor Margaret McClenaghan last night said the nationalist Ardoyne area had also been targeted during the violence.

“A number of petrol bombs and paint bombs were thrown from the loyalist Woodvale Road area into the Ardoyne,” she said.

“Loyalists were also trying to antagonise nationalists youths but community leaders have been out on the ground trying to keep the situation calm.”

PARADE REROUTED

Residents in the Ardoyne have welcomed a Parades Commission decision banning the Protestant Apprentice Boys organisaton from marching through a disputed flashpoint that has witnessed street violence in the past.

The commission ruled that to allow 50 loyalists to parade along the contentious Crumlin Road route on August 13 would “have an adverse effect on fragile community relations and have the potential for public disorder”.

On June 17, nationalists and loyalists clashed on the Crumlin Road during the Orange Order’s Tour of the North parade.

On July 12, the PSNI attacked a peaceful protest and used a water cannon the force another loyalist march through a Catholic area.

In the disturbances that followed, the PSNI fired 22 plastic bullets. The Continuity IRA responded by throwing two blast bombs at police lines.

Several petrol and paint bombs were also thrown at the PSNI.

Joe Marley, spokesman for the Ardoyne Parades Dialogue Group, welcomed the Parades Commission’s decision as a victory for common sense.

Mr Marley said: “It is a positive step. The position of Ardoyne residents is that, in the absence of meaningful dialogue with the loyal orders, there is no appetite for these parades in our community.

“These people will not talk to us, yet they want to march through our area.”

Urgent Appeal