Loyalist paramilitaries fired shots at the hideaway of the exiled wife of loyalist paramilitary Johnny Adair, English police said last night.
Gunmen shot at the house in Bolton, Lancashire, where Ms Gina Adair and her children fled after she was forced out of Belfast at the height of an internal feud.
The bitter power struggle between Adair and his rivals in the Ulster Defence Association, the Ulster Freedom Fighter's parent organisation, began last year after he was expelled from the grouping.
As tensions heightened, Adair was ordered back to Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn, Co Antrim, in January and told he must stay behind bars until 2005.
After Adair was returned to prison, his wife and a small band of supporters were driven out of their stronghold in the Lower Shankill area of Belfast by a rival faction intent on avenging the murder of another loyalist paramilitary, John Gregg.
They travelled to Scotland before moving to England.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed several shots were fired through the window of a house on Chorley New Road, Bolton, just before 2 a.m. yesterday. No one was injured.
Police sources also confirmed Ms Adair was staying in the targeted house.
Even though detectives have described the attack as an isolated incident, police patrols have been stepped up in the area.
In a statement issued yesterday, the UFF said: "As a result of an ongoing investigation into the murder of John Gregg, Robert Carson and other criminal activities by Adair and his associates, last night an ASU [active service unit\] of the Ulster Freedom Fighters attempted to oust members of the Adair faction in Bolton, England.
"At the same time another section of the same faction were moved from the Shankill area.
"As the investigation continues and more evidence is uncovered, action will be taken against anyone providing guns or a safe haven for these outcasts.
"They will be moved on wherever they are."
The divisional commander of Bolton police, Chief Supt Don Brown, appealed for the public not to panic.
He said: "We would like to reassure local residents as we believe this is an isolated incident, although extra officers will be on patrol in the area over the next few days."
- (PA)