Three men were shot and injured last night in what bore all the hallmarks of a loyalist sectarian gun attack in north Belfast.
The were hit in a drive-by attack by gunmen firing from a car as they sat talking in nationalist Atlantic Drive off the Antrim Road.
Police said one of the victims had been injured in the stomach, another in the shoulder and a third had suffered a bullet graze.
Officers who arrived at the scene provided first aid to the men until an ambulance arrived and took them all to hospital where their conditions were not immediately known.
Sinn Fein immediately accused the loyalist Ulster Defence Association of "attempted mass murder".
Local councillor, Mr Gerard Brophy said the victims, in their early 20s, had been sitting on bollards with a group of others when the gunmen pulled up beside them.
He said gunmen opened fire with a number of weapons before the car sped off at high speed.
Mr Brophy claimed the car had raced into the loyalist Tiger's Bay area where it was set on fire.
He said: "It is a UDA stronghold, they were responsible for attempted mass murder.
"They are trying to stoke up sectarian tensions again and seeking a response. I appeal for people to remain calm."
Police said five or six shots were fired from a red car occupied by three or four men.
A spokesman said officers were later examining the remains of a burned out red Rover found in the nearby loyalist Tiger's Bay area , which they said could have been used in the attack.
The head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Hugh Orde visited the scene of the shooting.
He described it as "a motiveless, mindless, sectarian attack".
And Northern Ireland Office minister Mr Des Browne said: "There can be no justification whatsoever for such mindless savagery.
"It is time for all decent people to isolate these violent so called loyalists involved in this type of activity"