NI Secretary condemns bomb attack

A bomb attack on a house in east Belfast – blamed locally on the Ulster Volunteer Force – was condemned tonight by Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy.

Two homes were damaged in a blast caused by what police called a substantial device.

The target was believed to be an empty house in Bloomfield Court, near the Beersbridge Road.

No one was badly hurt, but both buildings were extensively damaged. A man living in the house next door had treatment for shock.

The development was reckoned by some loyalist sympathisers to be linked to an on-going feud between the UVF and the smaller Loyalist Volunteer Force breakaway group.

The man treated for shock was 70-year-old Sam Cowan, who has a heart condition.

Mr Murphy called the incident a senseless act of violence.