Police injured in Belfast violence

Three police officers were injured in sectarian rioting which erupted in north Belfast on Sunday night.

Police and Army units were called to the North Queen Street area amid reports that a pipe bomb had been thrown at Catholic homes.

A police spokeswoman said investigations showed the suspected bomb was actually a large firework.

But stones and other missiles rained down as more than 200 people gathered on the streets and security forces battled to keep Protestants and Catholics apart.

A vehicle was set alight at Spamount Street in the Catholic New Lodge area as the trouble intensified.

'Disgrace'

A police spokeswoman said three officers were hurt in the violence before order was restored.

Local Sinn Fein councillor Gerard Brophy accused police of being heavy-handed with nationalist residents.

He said: "I'm in the middle of a full scale riot after loyalists came in and attacked these homes.

"It's an absolute disgrace."

Meanwhile, a 65-year-old man suffered head injuries after he was attacked in the same area of north Belfast.

He was walking his dog in Duncairn Gardens when a number of men got out of a car and attacked him with a meat cleaver.

It is understood his condition is not life-threatening.

Tensions are said to have been running high in the area all weekend following sporadic outbreaks of violence as a contentious loyalist band parade passed through the area.