Officers injured in city clashes

Security forces came under attack during riot

A police revolver has been lost during rioting in north Belfast.

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

A police spokesman said the weapon containing six rounds of ammunition was mislaid after officers came under attack from a nationalist crowd in the Spamount Street area.

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.