Police come under fire during riots in Belfast

Shots were fired at police last night as they tried to separate rival mobs during about of sectarian rioting in north Belfast.

Shots were fired at police last night as they tried to separate rival mobs during about of sectarian rioting in north Belfast.

Several people were injured in the disturbances yesterday as rival factions stoned each other and a man in his twenties was struck by a silver-coloured car. A metal trolley was then thrown at a police vehicle as officers responded, bouncing off and hitting a number of people.

Sinn Fein councillor Gerard Brophy claimed the trouble had been instigated by loyalist paramilitaries in the area.

"I stood and watched leading UDA figures instigate this from midday onwards," he said.

Fighting also erupted in the nearby Whitewell district and there were reports of Catholic and Protestant teenagers attacking each other with stones in the Ardoyne district, scene of last year's protests near the Holy Cross primary school.

Billy Hutchinson, a Northern Ireland Assembly member with the loyalist Progressive Unionist Party, accused the army of being heavy-handed. "It was just kids on each side stoning each other," he said.

The latest violence came after a weekend of clashes which saw more than 30 police officers and 10 civilians injured during two nights of trouble. The rioting prompted The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Jim Rodgers, to call for water cannons to be deployed in the north of the city.

During the violence on Saturday and Sunday, rival nationalists and loyalists attacked each other, and the police, with axes, iron bars, baseball bats and breeze blocks.

Police fired plastic bullets at the crowd but Mr Rodgers said the water cannon should be used for riot control and to help identify the troublemakers. He said: "Anything is an excuse for these people."

The Ulster Unionist councillor added: "What I would like to see is water cannons with dye used to clear our streets.

"When you have young people of the age of eight and upwards throwing missiles at the police officers of this city you can't allow it to continue."