A blast bomb has been thrown at police by nationalist rioters and petrol bombs and stones were hurled at them by youths on roof tops of shops in the Ardoyne.

A soldier is believed to have suffered acid burns to his face after being struck by an acid bomb thrown by loyalists in Twaddell Avenue tonight, police said.

It has been announced that the Holy Cross Catholic girls primary school will reopen tomorrow.

Northern Ireland First Minister, David Trimble, and Deputy First Minister, Mark Durkan, tonight condemned the violence in North Belfast and called for restraint and common sense from all sides.

It has been reported that police in Belfast have come under attack for the second night in a row.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern says it is essential that children in North Belfast should not once again become the innocent victims of local tensions.

Police landrovers have been used to escort pupils from the Boys Model School on the Crumlin road in Belfast due to violence in the area. Fourteen landrovers gathered outside the school to take the students home from school.

A gang of loyalists has vandalised 17 cars in the grounds of a Catholic secondary school in north Belfast today.

A footpath row between two mothers sparked the new outbreak of sectarian violence which erupted in flashpoint North Belfast, police said today.

The DUP has blamed Sinn Fein for last night’s riots in north Belfast, claiming they were designed to provoke a Protestant reaction.

The IRA has accused the British Government of allowing violence against Catholics in the North to spiral out of control.

The Catholic primary school at the eye of the latest violence to engulf North Belfast was closed today to prevent any of its young pupils being injured.

The White House’s special adviser on Northern Ireland has called for more understanding of growing alienation among the unionist community.

Community leaders in north Belfast are expected to hold talks later today in an effort to prevent an escalation of tensions between nationalists and loyalists in the Ardoyne area.

Police in the North have said last night's violent scenes in Belfast in which 14 officers and three youths were injured, appeared to be ‘‘sustained and heavily orchestrated’’.

Two people have been reported injured in gun fire attacks in north Belfast as serious disturbances spread across the city.

Police in the North have reported a serious disturbance on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast.

Violence has flared close to the Holy Cross School in Ardoyne in Belfast.

Reports are coming in that trouble has flared close to the Holy Cross School in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.