A Royal Ulster Constabulary officer is critically ill after being shot in mistake by an undercover soldier involved in a surveillance operation to thwart loyalist gunmen in Belfast.

The woman soldier is being questioned by the police in Belfast after the man was shot on Wednesday morning.

He was hit in the chest when police chased the undercover soldier's car along the Crumlin Road to Carlisle Circus in north Belfast.

The police patrol apparently thought the woman soldier was a joyrider.

The officer's condition on Wednesday evening was "serious but stable" but the RUC has refused to release his name.

Assistant Chief Constable Bill Stewart has appointed a senior detective to head an inquiry into the incident.

He said: "No-one can fully appreciate the feelings of both police and military colleagues."

Carlisle Circus is in a volatile part of the city where the loyalist Shankill is next to the republican Cliftonville district.

The Royal Ulster Constabulary has not released the identity of the injured policeman

Police and military surveillance intensified in the nationalist areas of Belfast after separate hit-and-run loyalist gun attacks on a bar and nightclub left two Catholics dead in revenge for the killing of Loyalist Volunteer Force chief Billy Wright.

Mr Stewart added: "Without in any way wishing to pre-empt the results of the investigation, we will be examining every facet of this incident and will take whatever action is necessary to prevent a recurrence."

Belfast Sinn Fein councillor Alec Maskey, who has survived a number of attempts on his life, described the shooting as "sinister" and demanded the Northern Ireland security minister Adam Ingram explain the circumstances surrounding it.

He said: "This incident is a further source of concern to nationalists already living on a knife edge. Many people will be extremely suspicious of such activities."

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