Bomb attacks rock east Belfast as feud rumbles on

The latest unionist paramilitary feud that has already claimed
one life has now sparked three bomb attacks since Saturday.

No one was seriously injured in the attacks although an elderly
man was treated in hospital for shock. A man who was the
intended target of the first of the bombings said it he and his
16-year-old son could have been killed.

The bombings and last Tuesday's murder of Brian Stewart, who was
buried today, have been blamed on the UVF in their increasingly
serious feud against the breakaway LVF.

There is a history of feuding between the two groups. It dates
back to 1996 when the UVF stood down the paramilitary leader
Billy Wright and his closest associates. Out of this split, the
LVF emerged.

The first bomb exploded in the early hours of Saturday morning
in the Beersbridge Road area of east Belfast. The large blast
was not caused by a pipe bomb and was described as a
"substantial device" by British bomb experts.

The targeted house and a house adjoining were damaged in the
blast. Windows in the two houses were shattered and the two
front doors were left hanging off their hinges. A 70-year-old
neighbour of the intended victim suffered shock.

The second device, a blast bomb, exploded relatively close by on
Sunday morning, shattering windows in a number of houses.
Another device, which failed to explode, was made safe by
British army bomb disposal experts.

The third, as yet unknown, device detonated this afternoon at a
terraced house on the London Road, also in east Belfast. A pipe
bomb was also reported to have been found nearby.

Both sides had braced themselves for further violence following
today's funeral of Mr Stewart.


Meanwhile, unionist paramilitaries in Derry are suspected of
carrying out a petrol bomb attack on a home near an interface
area. A group of youths threw the petrol bomb at a house in
Horace Street shortly after midnight on Friday.

No-one was injured in the attack and the house suffered scorch
damage.

It is believed the bombers fled in the direction of the nearby
loyalist Fountain estate.

Sinn Fein councillor Peter Anderson said there had been previous
petrol bombings and that the Fountain estate had also suffered
attacks.

"This is not an isolated incident, there have been problems in
the past," he said.

"In the past I have condemned anyone who has thrown petrol bombs
into the Fountain, so I also condemn people from the Fountain
throwing petrol bombs.

"Throwing petrol bombs is nothing short of attempted murder."