Police officers attacked in North Belfast riots
Police in Northern Ireland are appealing to politicians to find a solution to the ongoing parading issues across North Belfast as fifteen officers were injured in a second night of serious disorder last night.
Three officers were treated in hospital after enduring another night of being pelted with petrol bombs, rocks, fireworks and bottles. Rioters, believed to be mainly loyalist, hijacked a van and set it on fire on Denmark street before pushing it towards police lines. The extent of the injuries sustained by the police officers taken to hospital is not yet known.
Assistant Chief Constable Will Kerr said political activity needed to be "speeded up" before someone gets killed.
ITV News Reporter Martin Geissler reports:
Last night's disorder came after 47 Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers were injured on Sunday night during riots linked to a republican parade nearby and a loyalist protest. Nigel Dodds, the MP for North Belfast, said there has been progress made:
Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly said the Orange Order must come out and condemn the violence, and answer some "hard questions." Alban Maginness of the SDLP said it was clear loyalist paramilitaries were involved:
Constable Kerr said he needed community leaders to help quell the violence:
Six baton rounds were fired at the crowd and water cannon was used. The chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee of MPs, Laurence Robertson, paid tribute to police officers involved and sent his sympathies to those injured.