Shots fired at east Belfast interface

Police have reported that shots were fired from the nationalist Short Strand into Cluan Place during disturbances in east Belfast last night.

After about two hours of sporadic street violence, a gunman fired six shots through a gap in the 'peace-line' wall in the Clandeboye area of the Short Strand. There were no injuries during the shooting and police have not yet been able to establish whether the bullets used were live or blank rounds.

The trouble started at around 7pm after youths gathered on both sides of the east Belfast interface and began throwing stones.

Police in the area attempted to disperse the youths but at 9pm a blast bomb exploded in Cluan Place followed by the shooting incident. The violence then spilled out from the immediate interface area onto the Albertbridge Road area where there was, according to police, "hand-to-hand fighting" between rival groups.

The street violence continued and at around 1am a second blast bomb exploded in the nationalist Strand Walk area.

The PSNI has come under fire from residents and public representatives over the tactics employed last night.

The UUP's councillor for the area, Sir Reg Empey, said: "I have to say, with very great regret, that I've criticised police tactics in this street since the beginning of the summer and they're still not right. You can only police these situations if you have police on both sides of this interface."

Nationalists claimed that the seeds of last night's violence were sown over the weekend and the tense situation finally erupted with gunfire and blast bombs.

One nationalist resident claimed that the PSNI had ignored pleas from the community to disperse youths. He claimed that the "gunfire could have been avoided if the PSNI had listened to the residents".

Inspector Mike Ellis rejected criticism, saying the key to resolving the problem lay in the success of dialogue between the communities.

"We will work with the community in any way we can," he said.

"We can flood the place with army and police and we can bring in CCTV in the near future but we don't see those as long-term solutions. We must work with the community to resolve the issue."

He added: "It is important to realise that it isn't the police who are throwing the blast bombs or discharging the shots. The police are sent down there every evening and every afternoon as well to try to preserve order and preserve a quality of life for the people there.

"Police can only do so much if the community do not work with the police and are determined to fool the police and get round the edges, then violence will continue despite our best efforts."

It is hoped that CCTV, which is set to be installed in the area, will reduce outbreaks of violence.

(GMcG)