Pressure on loyalists over attacks

LOYALISTS were accused yesterday of raising sectarian tensions after being blamed for a series of attacks on Catholic bars and churches in Co Antrim.

One pub was set on fire and a second slightly damaged when hit by petrol bombs.

Two Catholic churches in Ballymena were smeared with paint just hours after a blast bomb exploded at a house, forcing the evacuation of a dozen families in the town. Nobody was hurt in the fire which swept through a bar at Martinstown. The remains of two petrol bombs were found outside the second bar at Rasharkin, where there was slight damage.