Five men have been shot in the legs in paramilitary-style "punishment" attacks on the outskirts of north Belfast.
Three men were shot in Mosley, one in Monkstown and one in Rathcoole. An RUC spokesman said the victim in Rathcoole had been shot in both legs.
Two more men, from the Ballyhenry area of Newtonabbey, were also shot, each in one leg. A further two men, in their 20s, were recovering in hospital last night after being attacked on Thursday night by two masked men in the loyalist Shore Road area of north Belfast and shot in the legs. The attack, which occurred shortly before 11 p.m., also bears the hallmarks of a paramilitary-style punishment shooting.