Senior officer calls for calm as 100 youths attack police after protocol rally

Missiles and fireworks being thrown at police on Lanark Way in the loyalist Shankill Road area of Belfast (Brian Lawless/PA)

A senior PSNI officer has called for those behind Northern Ireland Protocol protests to reduce tensions after a group of up to 100 youths attacked police following a rally.

Chief Superintendent Darrin Jones said he was “saddened” by scenes in which police were attacked with missiles and fireworks close to a peace line in Belfast on Wednesday evening.