Belfast police attacked in sectarian clashes

Explosive device thrown at officers after violence erupts in nationalist Short Strand area An explosive device was been thrown at a police vehicle in west Belfast, after violence flared elsewhere in the city on Monday night. Nobody was hurt in the incident in the early hours of Tuesday morning, near the Kennedy centre in Andersonstown. Police were responding to reports of a stolen vehicle when they came under attack. The area was closed off and bomb disposal experts went to the scene. Earlier, there were clashes in east Belfast, with petrol bombs thrown and homes damaged. Sinn Féin blamed scores of masked men, who a party representative said were wearing camouflage clothing and surgical gloves, for launching co-ordinated attacks on the nationalist Short Strand area. Ulster Unionist Michael Copeland said he believed the violence followed attacks on Protestant-owned homes. The Belfast mayor, Niall Ó Donnghaile, a councillor based in the Short Strand area, said a number of Catholic residents had been injured, including one man knocked unconscious when he was hit with a brick. Police were also attacked during the disturbances and advised motorists to avoid the area. Ó Donnghaile said: “There is no doubt that this was unprovoked and was a carefully orchestrated and planned attack on the area. Homes have been attacked with petrol bombs and paint bombs, bricks, golf balls. I saw what happened.” But Copeland said homes on the mainly Unionist Newtownards Road had been targeted. “I would say it was several hundred involved in very serious, almost hand-to-hand fighting,” he said. Northern Ireland Sinn Féin guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 21, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.