ianstone
07-12-2010, 02:18 PM
Northern Ireland police shot in wave of Belfast violence
Sinn Féin and police blame republican dissidents for violence in which three officers are shot, others injured and a bus is hijacked
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/12/northern-ireland-police-officers-shot#history-link-box)
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2010/7/12/1278957263482/belfast-riots-006.jpg Police in riot gear come under attack from nationalist youths in west Belfast. Photograph: Colm O'Reilly/Pacemaker Press Tensions remained high in Northern Ireland (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/northernireland) after a wave of sectarian violence and republican protests during the Ulster loyalist marching season.
Sinn Féin (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/sinn-fein) and the Police (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/police) Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) blamed republican dissidents for orchestrating trouble in north and west Belfast in which three police officers were shot and 24 others also injured.
In west Belfast, two armed and masked men also hijacked a bus this afternoon and forced its driver to drive to the local PSNI station in Woodburn.
The men said they had left an explosive device on the bus, which the driver was forced to abandon at the station. The area around the station was sealed off while the army dealt with the device.
One PSNI officer remains in hospital with gunshot wounds to his arm. He was one of three officers hurt last night when a masked man opened fire on police lines with a shotgun in North Queen Street, which runs from the nationalist New Lodge area to loyalist Tigers Bay. The PSNI was trying to prevent clashes between nationalist and loyalist youths. Police in riot gear were pelted with petrol bombs, bricks and bottles.
There was also violence in Broadway, which links the republican Falls Road to the M1, after PSNI patrols blocked one end to prevent republicans attacking homes in the loyalist Village area. Up to 200 rioters attacked the police, who deployed water cannon.
Seven civilians, including two children, were also injured in the Village after a car hit a crowd by a bonfire. The local Ulster Unionist councillor Bobby Stoker said he believed the car had been deliberately driven at residents.
There was a large police presence in Ardoyne, north Belfast, this evening. Officers in riot gear were deployed along the Crumlin Road to stop clashes between loyalists and republicans as an Orange Order parade returned from the Twelfth of July demonstration in the city.
While Sinn Féin appealed for peaceful protests, a large number of republican dissidents closed the Crumlin Road.
There was further violence tonight in Lurgan, County Armagh, where up to 50 youths attacked police on the nationalist Kilwilkie estate. Seven petrol bombs were thrown at officers.
Youths also tried to set fire to a train on the Belfast to Dublin line, but the driver managed to move clear and get his 55 passengers off safely.
Lurgan has been a focal point of dissident republican activity since the Continuity IRA shot dead Constable Stephen Carroll in nearby Craigavon last year.
PSNI Chief Superintendent Mark Hamilton condemned the attacks on his officers. "These officers were doing their jobs, were policing their local community and have been attacked whilst doing so," he said. "This is utterly wrong and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.
"We responded to this disorder immediately and officers put themselves in danger in order to restore normal and calm to the area for the residents. No one wants a return to this type of behaviour. "
He added: "I am very grateful to those in the community who took personal risk to try and prevent disorder and help the police in very difficult circumstances.
"We have appealed for calm in the run-up to the Twelfth of July and we continue to do so. We would appeal to anyone with influence in the community to exert it to ensure that the next few days pass off without incident."
Northern Ireland's justice minister, David Ford, said the violence could not be allowed to undermine political progress.
"Clearly, there are small numbers of people from republican backgrounds who do not accept the settlement which the vast majority of the rest of this community has accepted," he said.
Sinn Féin and police blame republican dissidents for violence in which three officers are shot, others injured and a bus is hijacked
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/12/northern-ireland-police-officers-shot#history-link-box)
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2010/7/12/1278957263482/belfast-riots-006.jpg Police in riot gear come under attack from nationalist youths in west Belfast. Photograph: Colm O'Reilly/Pacemaker Press Tensions remained high in Northern Ireland (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/northernireland) after a wave of sectarian violence and republican protests during the Ulster loyalist marching season.
Sinn Féin (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/sinn-fein) and the Police (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/police) Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) blamed republican dissidents for orchestrating trouble in north and west Belfast in which three police officers were shot and 24 others also injured.
In west Belfast, two armed and masked men also hijacked a bus this afternoon and forced its driver to drive to the local PSNI station in Woodburn.
The men said they had left an explosive device on the bus, which the driver was forced to abandon at the station. The area around the station was sealed off while the army dealt with the device.
One PSNI officer remains in hospital with gunshot wounds to his arm. He was one of three officers hurt last night when a masked man opened fire on police lines with a shotgun in North Queen Street, which runs from the nationalist New Lodge area to loyalist Tigers Bay. The PSNI was trying to prevent clashes between nationalist and loyalist youths. Police in riot gear were pelted with petrol bombs, bricks and bottles.
There was also violence in Broadway, which links the republican Falls Road to the M1, after PSNI patrols blocked one end to prevent republicans attacking homes in the loyalist Village area. Up to 200 rioters attacked the police, who deployed water cannon.
Seven civilians, including two children, were also injured in the Village after a car hit a crowd by a bonfire. The local Ulster Unionist councillor Bobby Stoker said he believed the car had been deliberately driven at residents.
There was a large police presence in Ardoyne, north Belfast, this evening. Officers in riot gear were deployed along the Crumlin Road to stop clashes between loyalists and republicans as an Orange Order parade returned from the Twelfth of July demonstration in the city.
While Sinn Féin appealed for peaceful protests, a large number of republican dissidents closed the Crumlin Road.
There was further violence tonight in Lurgan, County Armagh, where up to 50 youths attacked police on the nationalist Kilwilkie estate. Seven petrol bombs were thrown at officers.
Youths also tried to set fire to a train on the Belfast to Dublin line, but the driver managed to move clear and get his 55 passengers off safely.
Lurgan has been a focal point of dissident republican activity since the Continuity IRA shot dead Constable Stephen Carroll in nearby Craigavon last year.
PSNI Chief Superintendent Mark Hamilton condemned the attacks on his officers. "These officers were doing their jobs, were policing their local community and have been attacked whilst doing so," he said. "This is utterly wrong and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.
"We responded to this disorder immediately and officers put themselves in danger in order to restore normal and calm to the area for the residents. No one wants a return to this type of behaviour. "
He added: "I am very grateful to those in the community who took personal risk to try and prevent disorder and help the police in very difficult circumstances.
"We have appealed for calm in the run-up to the Twelfth of July and we continue to do so. We would appeal to anyone with influence in the community to exert it to ensure that the next few days pass off without incident."
Northern Ireland's justice minister, David Ford, said the violence could not be allowed to undermine political progress.
"Clearly, there are small numbers of people from republican backgrounds who do not accept the settlement which the vast majority of the rest of this community has accepted," he said.