BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) – Riot police set fire to a hijacked bus and dropped petrol bombs on Belfast police at least on the fourth night of serious violence a week in Northern Ireland, where Brexit has set a awkward political balance.
The youths threw projectiles and petrol bombs at police Wednesday night in the Protestant area of Shankill Road, while riot police threw bricks, fireworks and petrol bombs in both directions over the concrete “peace wall” that separates Shankill Road from a neighboring Irish nationalist area.
The Deputy Regent of the Northern Ireland Police Service, Jonathan Roberts, said several hundred people had gathered on both sides of a gate in the wall, where “the crowds … were committing serious crimes, attacking the police and attacking each other. “
He said a total of 55 policemen have been injured during several nights of disorder.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, condemned the riots and the government of Northern Ireland based in Belfast held an emergency meeting on the riots on Thursday.
Johnson appealed for calm and said “the way to resolve differences is through dialogue, not violence or crime.” The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster, of the British Democratic Unionist Party, and Deputy Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill, of the Irish nationalists Sinn Fein, condemned the disorder and attacks on police.
Recent violence, largely in pro-British loyalist areas, has erupted amid growing tensions over post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland and worsening relations between parts of the Protestant government. Catholic who shares the power of Belfast.
The latest riots took place during the long Easter weekend in the unionist areas of Belfast and Londonderry and its environs, also known as Derry, which saw cars burn and fire projectiles and petrol bombs at police officers. police.
Authorities have accused illegal paramilitary groups of inciting youths to cause chaos.
“We saw young people involved in serious disorders and committing serious crimes, and they supported and encouraged them, and the actions were orchestrated by adults at certain times,” said Roberts, the senior police officer.
Britain’s economic split with the European Union in late 2020 has upset the political balance in Northern Ireland, a part of the UK where some people identify as British and others as Irish.
A new trade agreement between the UK and the EU has imposed customs and border controls on some goods moving between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. The agreement was designed to avoid controls between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland, because an open Irish border has helped underpin the peace process based on the 1998 Good Friday agreement.
The deal put an end to decades of violence involving Irish Republicans, British loyalists and British armed forces in which more than 3,000 people were killed. But unionists say the new checks amount to a new border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK
Unionists are also angry with the police decision not to prosecute Sinn Fein politicians who attended the funeral of a former Irish Republican Army commander in June. Bobby Storey’s funeral attracted a large crowd, although coronavirus rules forbade mass gatherings.
Major unionist parties have demanded the resignation of the Northern Ireland police chief over controversy, claiming he has lost the trust of his community.
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Lawless reported from London.