The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) has been blamed for a murder attempt on a man who was shot and seriously wounded in his Belfast home on Tuesday night.
Three masked gunmen fired several rounds into the victim (48) in front of his terrified wife at the Ballybeen estate in the east of the city after breaking into his home.
One loyalist source said the savagery of the gun attack had stunned loyalists used to paramilitary-style punishment shootings.
He said: "This was purely personal and nothing to do with any kind of discipline. They [the attackers] have taken a few days to check their ground and find out who this manwas.
As police forensics experts searched the scene of last night's shooting at Campsie Park for clues, Mr David Ervine, leader of the UVF-linked ProgressiveUnionist Party, condemned the attack. He said: "I won't refute that it was the UVF".
The Democratic Unionist MP for the area, Ms Iris Robinson, also accused the gunmen of mounting a murder bid.
"There is absolutely no excuse or justification for this type of brutal shooting, and I am thankful that the gunmen did not succeed in their murderousplan," she said.
PA