Loyalists 'linked to gun attack'

Police officers search for clues at the scene

A gun attack on a 48-year-old man in east Belfast is being linked to loyalist paramilitaries.

The man suffered gunshot wounds when three masked men opened fire at his home in Campsie Park, on the Ballybeen estate in Dundonald on Tuesday evening.

They shot the man but his wife, who was also in the house, escaped unharmed.

The shooting is being linked to the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force.

Progressive Unionist Party leader David Ervine, whose party is connected with the UVF, condemned the attack.

Waiting car

He said: "The suggestions that are in the undergrowth at the moment would suggest that it was a punishment shooting. For what reason we are not yet aware."

Mr Ervine said people should turn to the police rather than paramilitaries.

He said he did not believe the shooting was related to any feud within loyalism.

A burnt-out car was found a short time later

The victim was taken to the Ulster Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery, and his condition was described as stable.

The three gunmen fled in a waiting car and detectives have been linking that to a burnt-out vehicle they recovered in the Brooklands Gardens area of the estate a short time after the attack.

A team of forensic scientists remained at the scene of the shooting on the outskirts of east Belfast for several hours.

Police have not released details of a motive for the attack.

Strangford MP Iris Robinson said the shooting was a "worrying development".

"There is absolutely no excuse or justification for this type of brutal shooting," said the Democratic Unionist.