Seventeen held after bar search

A bar was searched by police

Seventeen men have been arrested following a police search of a bar in a loyalist area of north Belfast.

Officers in riot gear raided the Alexandra Bar in York Street and fired CS gas capsules during the operation on Thursday evening.

Police would not comment on reports the UDA was rehearsing a show of strength. It is thought those arrested are being questioned about paramilitary activity.

On Friday, a lorry was set on fire near the pub.

Two council workers were told to get out of the vehicle and the cab was set alight.

A short time earlier, there was an attempt to hijack a taxi on Glenrosa Link but the driver managed to get away.

The police operation began just before 2000 GMT on Thursday.

Bar doors were ripped off their hinges and some upstairs windows in the bar were smashed during the raid.

It is understood that one of those arrested is already facing terrorist-related charges.

Sammy Duddy from the Ulster Political Research Group, which provides political analysis for the UDA, criticised the operation.

A bin lorry was set on fire in the vicinity of the bar

He said tensions were running high in the area following the raid.

North Belfast DUP MP Nigel Dodds said local people had been "stunned" by what had happened.

"We were getting reports of bangs in the area, and there was even a rumour of fatalities," he said.

"Thankfully, that was not the case."

The police fired what they described as "irritant rounds" during the raid but denied reports that live rounds had been fired.

In a statement, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said irritant rounds contain CS gas which produce a "high density smoke".

The police said the arrests were in connection with serious crime.

A large crowd of people from the area gathered at the police cordon during the operation.

Large numbers of police are still at the bar.