PSNI set up crack unit to target rioters

Police in the North have established a special unit in an effort to identify those responsible for rioting in the Ardoyne, Limestone Road and Whitewell areas of north Belfast.

The nine-man unit will study hours of videotape to try to identify the ringleaders of nationalist and loyalist mobs involved in the violence.

Official figures show that 603 police officers were injured in disturbances in north Belfast since June last year.

Rioters threw 369 petrol bombs and 168 blast bombs during the same period, while police fired over 140 plastic bullets.

The authorities recently installed closed circuit television cameras on the Ardoyne Road and hope to have a total of 18 such cameras at flashpoints in north Belfast by this summer.