Loyalists launched gun attacks on the RUC in Belfast late last night as Drumcree related-disturbances escalated. The police said that up to six shots were fired in the Village area of south Belfast after 11 p.m. Earlier, police fired plastic bullets when they came under attack from youths throwing petrol bombs in the area.
Shots were also fired at the police in the Duncairn Gardens area of north Belfast. There were no reports of any injuries.
In Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, two devices were thrown at the home of an RUC officer at about 11.30 p.m. One of the devices exploded but no one was injured.
Earlier, an RUC officer on York Road in north Belfast was attacked by a crowd throwing petrol bombs and paint bombs.
A blast bomb was thrown at a police patrol on the Shore Road where up to 150 masked youths clashed with security forces.
At teatime, Northern Ireland Railways, which had one of its new £7 million trains destroyed during last year's disturbances, announced that all services had been withdrawn. Citybus in Belfast and bus services throughout the North were also withdrawn in the early evening.
Violence broke out shortly after 1,000 Orangemen and their supporters paraded into Belfast city centre last night. Youths clashed with the RUC in the loyalist Sandy Row area and set a car alight shortly after 8 p.m.
Shaftesbury Square, the hub of Belfast's nightlife, was closed off for a time by supporters of the Orangemen. Fast-food outlets, bars and nightclubs closed their doors early and streets around the city were almost deserted.
Several hundred Orangemen gathered on Clifton Street, north Belfast, and started an impromptu parade which was prevented by the RUC from going into a nationalist area.
Orangemen also blocked the main Belfast-Dublin road for a time near Lisburn and more than 60 people, mainly women and children blocked the main road between Derry and Strabane at Newbuildings.
