Rioters 'will be held accountable'

Nationalist crowd attacked security forces

A special police team has been set up to identify those involved in recent rioting on the streets of north Belfast.

The police made the announcement on Monday as there was renewed trouble in the Ardoyne area.

Rival loyalist and nationalist crowds threw ball bearings and stones at each other on the Ardoyne Road.

There were also disturbances on the Crumlin Road near Brompton Park.

I have set up a temporary team which will be proactively looking at video evidence, so people can expect to face the consequences of their actions

Police Chief Superintendent Julie Lindsey

It was closed by the police for a time on Monday evening after the security forces came under attack from nationalists throwing bricks and bottles.

The disturbances followed renewed street violence in north Belfast at the weekend when the police were attacked by a mob of about 150 youths as they tried to end sectarian clashes.

It followed further rioting in the Ardoyne area last Thursday.

Ardoyne and other community interface areas in north Belfast have been the scene of frequent sectarian street clashes for almost a year.

The police have repeatedly blamed the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association for orchestrating rioting in the area.

Loyalists, meanwhile, have blamed republican paramilitaries for stirring up sectarian tensions in the area.

Earlier this year, the police published the pictures of people who had been photographed during riots in north Belfast as part of a public appeal for information.

'Arrests difficult'

But despite the sustained period of violence and tension, there have been few arrests.

Chief Superintendent Julie Lindsey said it was difficult to arrest rioters while disturbances were taking place but the police were determined to bring those responsible to justice.

She said: "From a policing perspective, if we have to make arrests at the time, we are actually taking a vehicle away from the scene in order to take the arrested person to a police station.

"We are looking at other ways of doing that.

"But I have set up a temporary team which from Tuesday will be proactively looking at video evidence, so people can expect to face the consequences of their actions."

At the weekend the police fired three plastic bullets after they were attacked with petrol bombs and a blast bomb at Twaddell Avenue and the Ardoyne roundabout on Crumlin Road.

The police said four of their officers were injured.

In one incident, rioters tried to drag a female police officer from her vehicle.

And an officer is still in a serious condition in hospital after he was hit by a BMW car during the disturbances. A soldier was injured after being struck by concrete block.