Loyalist gunmen are suspected of carrying out an attack on a bar in Belfast, killing one person and injuring five others.

Two masked men sprayed bullets into the Clifton Tavern in Cliftonville Road in the north of the city at around 9.07pm (GMT) on December 31.

The attackers told a man changing a tyre outside the pub to get out of the way before going inside and opening fire.

The attack appears to be the work of loyalist paramilitaries out for revenge for the killing by republican gunmen of Billy Wright in the Maze prison.

The gunman fired at random into the bar

It raises fears of an an upsurge in tit-for-tat attacks which will place further strain on the peace process and the terrorists' ceasefire.

Police and troops are on full alert and possible Catholic targets have been warned to be on their guard.

A detective looks for evidence outside the bar

About a sixth of all the 3,200 victims of the conflict since 1969 have died in North Belfast.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Three injured men were taken to Belfast City Hospital, where they were said to be in a "comfortable" condition.

A spokesman for the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast said one man had been taken there. He was in a "critical" condition.

Peace process 'shattered'

The shootings came after Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble met Ulster Secretary Mo Mowlam at Stormont and warned her that Unionists were feeling increasingly isolated by the Government's continued concessions to republicans.

The recent tit-for-tat killings began in the Maze prison

Leading Sinn Fein member Gerry Kelly condemned the attack and said: "The peace process is shattered."

Mr Kelly, who is on the Sinn Fein team in the multi-party talks, added: "This was an abominable and appalling attack on innocent Catholics."

Ken Maginnis, deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, said his party had been "betrayed" by the Northern Ireland Office.

He said of the attacks: "It's very sad. It's absolutely tragic that we have started the New Year off in this way.

"We have all been holding our breath. We all knew the danger there was of retaliation, and extended retaliation, because the LVF had said it would exact revenge for the death of Billy Wright."

Although recent violence has been carried out by organisations that never called ceasefires - the INLA and the LVF - there are growing concerns that the main groups could be provoked into breaking their ceasefires.

Northern Ireland experts point out the LVF's heartland is Mid Ulster and it has no record of carrying out operations in Belfast.

Wright and his LVF comrades have been at loggerheads with the Belfast-based Ulster Volunteer Force, which they broke away from, since 1994 when they refused to respect the loyalist ceasefire.
 

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