RUC officers and British troops in riot gear baton charged crowds in Portadown last night. The action was taken to quell what was described as a short, but intense period of disorder in a Loyalist area of the County Armagh town. Water cannon was also used. Some 19 RUC officers and two civilians were injured.
The action was taken near the Edgarstown estate after petrol-bombs, fireworks and other missiles were thrown at police and British Army lines. The disturbances began after bonfire celebrations to mark the Twelfth of July. An RUC spokesman said this morning that the area was calm and that British Army bomb experts had made safe an explosive device found on the Corcrain Road.
Masked Loyalist paramilitary gunmen in Belfast fired shots in the air in the Shankill Road district where crowds had gathered for the annual celebrations. At one location, witnesses said that five masked gunmen identified themselves as members of the UFF. A report from another location in the area said that members of the UVF also fired shots. However, no disturbances were reported elsewhere in the North.
In a separate development, a 16-year-old Ballymena youth has been charged in relation to a pipe bomb attack on a house at Church St, Ahoghill, Co Antrim in the early hours of Tuesday morning last. The RUC said that he has been charged with possession of explosives with intent to endanger life. He is due before a special sitting of the local Magistrates Court this morning.
