Man killed in Belfast shooting in Belfast

A MAN was killed and another seriously injured in two separate shooting incidents in west and south Belfast last night. The injured man was a prominent loyalist shot and seriously wounded by republican gunmen at his home in the Shankill Road area.

The identity of the dead man, who was killed just before midnight, was not immediately known and the motivation for the shooting was unclear. He was killed in the Ormeau Road district, which is a mixed area where both loyalist and republican assassins have been active in recent months.

The injured man was hit several times by rifle bullets in his house in Paris Street. He was taken to hospital where his condition was last night said to be serious but stable.

Local people said the gunmen had first thrown a brick through the window of the house, then opened fire when the man went to investigate. A child aged two-and-a-half was also said to have been injured by shrapnel in the attack, which took place just before 6pm.

The wounded man has survived three previous attacks on his life, two by the IRA and one by the Irish People's Liberation Organisation. A car used in last night's incident was found abandoned in the Catholic Ardoyne area.