Violence erupts in Northern Ireland

Several people have been injured after rioters attacked homes in east Belfast in Northern Ireland overnight. Police said that more than 100 Protestant teenagers and men attacked Catholic homes with rocks, bottles and bricks in the Short Strand area of the city in Northern Ireland. Witnesses described groups of men wearing balaclavas and camouflage clothing gathering in the lower Newtownards Road area, the (Sky News) reported. A number of homes on both sides were attacked and a police landrover set ablaze. Officers said petrol bombs had been thrown but there were no injuries reported. Members of the public are being urged to avoid the area after what is now a second night of trouble. Sinn Fein councillor for the area Niall O''Donnghaile, who was at the scene, claimed the violence was deliberately organised by loyalists. They subsequently moved round to the bottom of the lower Newtownards Road, all heavily armed with bottles, bricks, fireworks and petrol bombs.