Loyalist ceasefire under greater strain after LVF threat

Trouble has flared up in Belfast again after a second loyalist terror group said it could break its ceasefire to defend Protestants under attack.

Trouble has flared up in Belfast again after a second loyalist terror group said it could break its ceasefire to defend Protestants under attack.

In the latest indication of escalating sectarian tensions, a large gang of youths was reported to have pelted homes in north Belfast with stones at 7.30am.

Windows were broken in the attack on Clanchattan Street and Newington Street in the interface Limestone area, but there were no reports of injuries.

The area saw similar confrontations earlier this summer when the Ulster Freedom Fighters first issued a threat to shoot anyone attacking Protestant homes.

The threat was suspended within days but reinstated on Thursday night following attacks in Protestant areas, blamed on republicans.

Last night the Loyalist Volunteer Force issued a statement supporting the UFF's position, warning it would take similar action "if necessary".

The LVF - which split from the Ulster Volunteer Force over its role in the peace process - is concentrated in mid-Ulster but is believed to have forged an alliance with the UFF in north and west Belfast.

Other incidents overnight included a petrol and paint bomb attack on a house off the Serpentine Road, another interface area in north Belfast.

No-one was hurt but the front door of the house on Thorburn road was scorch damaged.

Meanwhile police were seeking a motive for a pipe bomb attack on a house in north Co Antrim.

The device, a weapon long-favoured by loyalist terrorists, was posted through the letterbox of a house on Drumlee Road, Ballymoney, but was defused by Army bomb disposal experts.