Police clash with loyalists

Police clashed with loyalists in Portadown

The security forces have used water cannon against loyalists after being attacked with blast and petrol bombs at a bonfire in County Armagh.

The Royal Ulster Constabulary also baton charged the group of several hundred loyalists at the bonfire on the Corcrain Estate in Portadown - an area which saw serious rioting last year.

Elsewhere in Northern Ireland, there was almost no trouble at Eleventh night bonfires.

The trouble came against a backdrop of talks aimed at moving forward the stalled Northern Ireland political process.

It also came hours before the climax of the Protestant marching season, with thousands of Orangemen taking part in 12 July rallies across Northern Ireland.

Police used water cannon for the first time this year

The RUC said trouble flared when three blast bombs were thrown at their lines in Portadown.

They also came under attack from petrol bombs, stones and fireworks.

Police in riot gear and the Army moved in and used a water cannon to try to force the crowd back from the bonfire towards the Edgarstown estate, off the Corcrain Road.

Police said 21 officers and two civilians were injured in the disturbances.

RUC Assistant Chief Constable for the area Stephen White, said: "We had three blast type devices thrown at police.

"One exploded near police lines, one exploded we believe, close to army lines and one hit a police officer on the collar bone. A very fortunate man - it bounced on the road beside him.

One or two people may have thrown a petrol bomb but you can't take it out on a whole community

Sydney Anderson
Ulster Unionist Councillor

"We're talking about something packed with explosives which hits an officer at shoulder height and only with good fortune it didn't explode.

"We could be talking about a dead police officer."

A BBC reporter on the scene said the security forces then pulled back from the estate in an attempt to cool things down.

Local community leaders have complained at what they claimed was heavy-handed policing.

Ulster Unionist councillor Sydney Anderson said: "This is not right against the people of this town.

Loyalist gunmen fired shots in front of crowd

"One or two people may have thrown a petrol bomb but you can't take it out on a whole community."

However, RUC Deputy Assistant Chief Constable Cyril Donnan said claims that police used excessive force was "absolute nonsense" and that the violence was orchestrated.

Tension had escalated in the area earlier on Wednesday, as the RUC carried out searches of houses, as they looked for petrol bombs.

Meanwhile, loyalist paramilitaries have put on so-called shows of strength at bonfires.

The Ulster Freedom Fighters fired shots in front of a crowd of about 200 people, off the Shankill Road, before midnight on Wednesday.

Masked members from the rival Ulster Volunteer Force members fired handguns, while another fired shots from an assault rifle at a bonfire in nearby Northumberland Street.

The traditional 'Eleventh Night' bonfires attracted large crowds and fire crews were on standby throughout the night.

In Banbridge, County Down, members of the fire service came under attack but no one was injured.

Fire fighters had to intervene where wind or the size of bonfires caused flames to spread to nearby houses.

In east Belfast, a 25-year-old woman was treated for the effects smoke inhalation after flames cracked the windows of her first floor flat.