Belfast shootings linked to 'loyalist feud'

Feuding loyalist paramilitaries in Belfast were today blamed for shooting one man dead and critically wounding another.

A 19-year-old was killed by three gunmen who burst into a house in the north of the city and opened fire.

He was rushed to hospital from the scene of the attack at Dhu Varren Crescent just after 1.30am but died later.

A light blue Peugeot 405 car suspected of being used by the killers was found on fire soon afterwards at Cupar Way in the fiercely loyalist Shankill area.

Hours earlier, a man in his 20s was shot several times in the upper body at Crumlin Road, near Glenbank.

Police said he was critically wounded and undergoing emergency treatment.

A stretch of the Crumlin Road, one of the main routes into the city centre, was closed off as detectives hunted for clues.

Although police could not confirm if the attacks were linked, reliable sources claimed escalating tensions between the Ulster Volunteer Force and splinter Loyalist Volunteer Force were to blame.

The shootings came just 24 hours after an attack on a home in the nearby Ballysillan district and two men were beaten up by rival paramilitaries.

It is understood the LVF carried out at least one of the latest shootings. Sources in the area conceded that revenge attacks were almost inevitable.

“The UVF is on full alert and there is no doubt they will hit back,” one said.

Loyalist terrorists have a long and bloody history of conflicts on the streets of Belfast.

Several men have been murdered over the last five years, including senior paramilitaries, as the rival organisations battle for supremacy.

Police would not confirm if the latest attacks were linked, but they appealed for calm and urged community representatives to help ease tensions in the area.

Their plea was echoed by Chris McGimpsey, an Ulster Unionist councillor in Belfast.

He said: “The last thing we need is another loyalist feud. Both sides need to take a long look at themselves before they plunge our community into a feud.”