Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Photographer shot in second night of Belfast rioting



Police vehicles maintain the line in the Newtownards Road-Short Strand area
Sectarian violence has flared for a second night near a Catholic enclave in east Belfast.
Three shots were fired in the lower Newtownards Road-Short Strand area but the gunman's target is not known.
A press photographer was shot in the leg and taken to hospital and police urged the media to stay away.
A barrage of petrol bombs, missiles and fireworks were thrown at police lines, in what is being reported as the worst trouble in the area for a decade.
Police estimated about 700 people were involved in disturbances on Tuesday. Two males were injured, believed to have suffered burn injuries.

Analysis

Historically at this time of year there have been street clashes where Catholic areas meet Protestant districts.
But that has been in the past and violence has been relatively rare on the streets since the Good Friday Agreement 13 years ago. So this has sprung up as something of a surprise.
It's a part of east Belfast which historically has had a problem between a small number of Catholics and Protestants.
There have been a number of small scale sectarian incidents in recent months.
There is a presence in the area of a faction of the pro-British loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force, a paramilitary organisation which signed up to the peace process but is becoming disillusioned.
They are flexing their muscle, and if you put those factors together you begin to understand what is happening.
There was a large police presence, which followed Monday's sectarian clashes and two water canon vehicles arrived. Roads were closed and police advised motorists to avoid the area.
The photographer - who works for a press agency - was in a stable condition in the casualty department of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
BBC Ireland correspondent Mark Simpson said the man's injuries were not life-threatening.
Police appealed for all media to stay out of east Belfast "for their own safety".
Officers fired a number of plastic baton rounds at rioters.
Earlier on Tuesday, a senior police officer described shots aimed at officers during rioting in east Belfast on Monday night as "attempted murder".
Ch Supt Alan McCrum said the trouble was "orchestrated" by loyalist paramilitary group the UVF.
Two men were treated in hospital for gun shot wounds. A total of 11 shots were fired - six from the nationalist side and five from loyalists.
Two shots hit a police Land Rover. Police said it was "clearly an attempt to murder police officers".
Petrol bombs, fireworks, bricks, stones and smoke bombs were thrown and homes were damaged during the disturbances.
The PSNI said between 400 to 500 people were involved in the disorder.
Ch Supt McCrum said the trouble started after a group of young men came out of the loyalist Mount and Castlereagh Street areas, and made their way into the Catholic enclave of Short Strand.

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