Police to step up north Belfast patrols

Seven homes were damaged in the attack

More police patrols have been promised in an area of north Belfast where homes were attacked with paint on Wednesday night.

At a public meeting on Thursday evening, Chief Inspector Colin Taylor said while police resources were finite, more would be put into the area around Cliftondene Park and Deerpark Road where seven homes were targeted.

"We have extra police and military patrols dedicated to the area for the foreseeable future," he said.

"However, that is not an indefinite guarantee.

Chief Inspector Taylor: "This is not an indefinite guarantee"

"Obviously we are going to have to review it and if there are other problems in other areas of north Belfast we will have to scale back at some stage."

The attack on the homes was described by police as "nakedly sectarian".

Detectives are investigating the possibility the incident, in which paint was thrown at the houses in the early hours of Thursday, may be linked to the removal of loyalist flags in the area earlier this week.

Clear motivation

Trouble erupted when houses in Cliftondene Park and Deerpark Road were attacked by a group of men.

Six of the homes attacked were owned by Catholics, and one by a Protestant family.

The police said one man had a gun and fired shots in the air.

Chief Inspector Taylor said he believed sectarianism was the clear motivation of those involved and appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

The removal of flags in the area may have prompted the attack

One resident, who did not want to be identified, said she thought the attack may have taken place after loyalist flags, erected by a large crowd of men on Monday, were removed from lamp posts in the area.

The woman, who has lived in the house for 27 years, said it was the seventh time her home had been attacked in the past year.

I am very angry that someone from outside this area has made a decision to attack our homes because of the way we choose to live

Resident

The householder said she did not know the exact reason why her home was targeted.

"I think it is because I am a Catholic but in saying that one of the neighbours who was attacked is a Protestant," she said.

"We have very good relations here, no animosity at all, and I am very, very angry that someone from outside this area has made a decision to attack our homes because of the way we choose to live."

Residents said they did not remove the flags and both they and the police said they did not know who did.