NI: New arson attack on feud-ravaged estate

Arsonists have struck again on a Northern Ireland estate ravaged by a violent feud between rival families, it emerged today.

After a 17-year-old youth was shot in an attempted abduction in the Ballymurphy district of west Belfast, an oil tank at a nearby house was set on fire.

Neighbours put out the blaze at the property, which was vacated following earlier attacks.

Homes have been burnt out in more than 100 incidents since Gerard Devlin, 39, was stabbed to death last month.

The worsening trouble has led Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern to appeal for an end to the violence in the area.

Urging both sides to show restraint, he condemned the shooting of Wayne McComb in front of schoolchildren on Thursday.

The teenager was a friend of the Devlin family.

His brother has claimed that police warned him of a death threat after he attended Mr Devlin’s wake.

Since the father of six was murdered as he picked up his children, there have been dozens of arson attacks on homes and allegations of intimidation.

Four men, all associated with the Notorantonio family, have been charged in connection with the stabbing.

And a 14-year-old boy arrested in connection with a petrol bomb attack on a Ballymurphy house, which police believe was also linked to the ongoing tensions, was released last night. A file is to be sent to the Public Prosecution Service.

Just before 10pm on Thursday, police said they were called to investigate the arson attack on an unoccupied house at Ballymurphy Road.

Flammable items were thrown at an oil tank, setting fire to it.

Although the fire brigade also attended, local residents managed to extinguish the flames.