Baby house bomb attack sectarian

The family say they would now have to leave the area

Teenagers were responsible for a sectarian petrol bomb attack on the home of a couple and their new-born baby in Belfast, police have said.

Two homes in Twaddell Avenue were attacked at about 2300 BST on Tuesday.

The man, who wants to remain anonymous, was sitting with his 18-day-old son when the petrol bombers struck.

"I just saw the flash at the side window, looked up and heard the bang and seen the flames and I grabbed the child and ran up the stairs," he said.

"If it (the petrol bomb) had come through the window my child was going to get burnt to death."

The man said it was the second attack on his family in three weeks and they would now have to leave the area.

Chief Inspector Andrea Mullan said the attack was sectarian and that security cameras in the area caught those to blame.

"There were between 16 and 20 youths and I would say there were between 14 to 18-years-old," she said.

"We are looking at footage and trying to identify the perpetrators of this attack and we will be making arrests."

Police said they were called to the area after a group of people had gathered there. The houses sustained scorch damage but no-one was injured.

DUP assembly member Nelson McCausland condemned the attack.

"I had hoped that such sectarian attacks were a thing of the past but the events of the past few weeks show that this is not the case."

Sinn Fein's Margaret McClenaghan said the incident was disgraceful.

"Sectarianism is a cancer that cuts across all of society. It thrives on tensions in interface areas," she said.