A teenager shot and wounded in Northern Ireland was the latest victim of a bitter feud among rival loyalist paramilitary factions, security sources said this evening.

An investigation was under way today after an explosive device was thrown through the window of a house in Co Down.

Fears were mounting today of renewed loyalist paramilitary bloodletting in Northern Ireland as the funeral was taking place of a murder victim linked to the Loyalist Volunteer Force.

The RUC say a man shot dead overnight in a mainly Protestant area of north Down was known to them.

A young priest has died while on his way to say evening mass at his church in Derry.