A suspected loyalist has been shot and seriously wounded in a gun attack in north Belfast today.
Sources have linked the shooting to a deepening loyalist paramilitary feud in the city that has claimed three lives so far.
The victim is understood to have been hit a number of times in the chest during disturbances close to the Crumlin Road. The attack happened at Glenside Park, at around 6.30am.
Neighbours said Loyalist Volunteer Force locked in a vicious turf war with the rival Ulster Volunteer Force were seen in the area.
The man injured was taken to the nearby Mater Hospital. A crowd of up to 20 men also gathered outside the hospital, but were held back by police, according to frightened staff.
The victim was later transferred across Belfast to the Royal Victoria Hospital where his condition is said to be serious.
Police later revealed four men were being questioned following the shooting. Two were arrested under the terms of the Terrorism Act and the other pair on suspicion of attempted murder, a police spokeswoman said.
As well as the man injured in the attack, a woman was treated for shock. A gun was also taken from the scene by officers.
The spokeswoman confirmed that police who dispersed the crowd outside the Mater Hospital were investigating a possible link to the loyalist feud.
Meanwhile, a bomb was defused by an army explosive expert during a security alert on the nearby Crumlin Road. The remains of the device have been taken for forensic examination.