Two hurt in Belfast drive-by shooting

Two men were shot and injured in what appeared to be a loyalist drive-by shooting in north Belfast today.

Police said first reports indicated one had been shot in the stomach and the other in the shoulder in the attack at Atlantic Avenue off the Antrim Road.

Sinn Fein immediately accused the loyalist Ulster Defence Association of “attempted mass murder”.

Party local councillor Gerard Brophy said the two men, both in their early 20s, had been sitting on bollards with a group of others when a red Vauxhall Nova pulled up.

He said gunmen opened fire with a number of weapons before the car sped off at high speed.

Mr Brophy claimed the car had raced into the loyalist Tiger’s Bay area where it was set on fire.

He said: “It is a UDA stronghold, they were responsible for attempted mass murder.

“They are trying to stoke up sectarian tensions again and seeking a response. I appeal for people to remain calm.

The shooting came after a young couple narrowly escaped injury when their home in Atlantic Avenue was targeted in a loyalist pipe bomb attack during the night.

The device was thrown over the peace line into the rear garden of the house in the predominantly nationalist area from the loyalist Glenbryn area of Ardoyne.