Police hurt as sectarian violence flares

Three police officers were injured when sectarian rioting erupted on the streets of Belfast last night.

Police and army units were called to the flashpoint North Queen Street area last night amid reports that a suspected pipe bomb, which police later said was a large firework, had been thrown at Catholic homes.

Stones and other missiles rained down as crowds of more than 200 gathered.

There were also unconfirmed reports of baton rounds being fired by security forces battling to keep Protestants from the Tigers Bay district and their Catholic neighbours apart.

Local Sinn Fein councillor Gerard Brophy accused police of being heavy-handed with nationalist residents.

‘‘I’m in the middle of a full scale riot after loyalists came in and attacked these homes. It’s an absolute disgrace,’’ he said last night.

A police spokeswoman said police came under attack and a vehicle was set alight a few hundred yards away at Spamount Street in the staunchly Catholic New Lodge area as the trouble intensified.

Order was later restored to the area, with police maintaining a presence.

Tensions have been running high in the area all weekend following sporadic outbreaks of violence as a contentious loyalist band parade passed through the area on Friday night.