A bomb attack on a house in east Belfast - blamed locally on the Ulster Volunteer Force - was condemned tonight by Northern Ireland Secretary Mr Paul Murphy.
Two homes were damaged in a blast caused by what police called a substantial device.
The target was believed to be an empty house in Bloomfield Court, near the Beersbridge Road.
No one was badly hurt, but both buildings were extensively damaged. A man living in the house next door had treatment for shock.
The development was reckoned by some loyalist sympathisers to be linked to an ongoing feud between the UVF and the LVF.
The man treated for shock was 70-year-old Mr Sam Cowan, who has a heart condition.
Mr Murphy called the incident a senseless act of violence.
