Two men arrested at the weekend in connection with the murder of leading loyalist John Gregg and another man have been freed without charge.
Members of the mainstream UDA have issued a warning to those who claimed responsibility for Saturday's double murder, using the Red Hand Defenders cover name.
It invited others to abandon the small renegade group loyal to Johnny Adair.
Several leading Adair supporters have already defected to the mainstream group and others have gone to ground.
The chief constable, Hugh Orde, says the loyalist feud would have already claimed the lives of more people but for the police.
He said the British Army is now being deployed at a higher level than it has for three or four years.
A Christian group on the Shankill is deploying volunteers wearing armbands in the area to try and prevent more violence, but it is still believed that further bloodshed is inevitable.