RUC attacked with guns and bombs in rioting
Fresh gun attacks were last night mounted on police during the latest riots in north Belfast, the RUC said.
Petrol bombs and blast bombs were also thrown at police lines as rival loyalist and nationalist mobs clashed at Carlisle Circus, a junction splitting Protestant and Catholic parts of the city.
At around the same time gunfire and petrol bombings were reported in the Alliance Avenue and Deerpark Road area as the factions continued their fierce battles.
A fire in one house had to be extinguished after a device set it alight, police said.
The renewed violence came after around 100 residents from the loyalist Glenbryn area picketed a north Belfast RUC station to voice anger at police for firing into the area during Saturday night’s trouble.
A letter of protest was handed in by the group, who vowed to seek a meeting with the Police Ombudsman.
Community worker Hugh McGarry accused the RUC of being heavy handed.
‘‘They are supposed to identify a target and open fire on that target,’’ he said.
‘‘They didn’t seem to, they just opened up with a burst of gunfire at a crowd on the Ardoyne Road.’’
But Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams’ anger was focused on loyalist paramilitaries who he claimed were intent on causing mayhem in the area.
Speaking at a hunger strike memorial service in Belfast, he said: ‘‘What is happening in north Belfast, in Duncairn and the Limestone Road and at the top end of Ardoyne is an entirely planned effort to push republicans back into war.’’
