Police officers have come under attack from blast bombs and petrol bombs in east Belfast for the second night running.
Several plastic bullets were fired as masked men threw petrol bombs at police last night in Albertbridge Road and Cluan Place.
Police said at least nine officers were injured when they came under attack during intense loyalist rioting. Over 30 police officers have been injured over the past week.
A bus was hijacked by a number of youths but was recovered by the police before it could be set alight. A number of other vehicles were set on fire.
Meanwhile in north Belfast at the Ardoyne and Glenbryn interface, security forces dealt with a number of suspicious objects found at the rear of Protestant homes.
Blast bombs were reported to have been thrown and police were also investigating claims shots were heard in the area of Glenbryn and the nationalist Alliance Avenue.
The clashes came just hours after a Sinn Féin delegation met Northern Ireland Office minister Mr Des Browne to discuss recent sectarian clashes and attacks in Belfast and other parts of Northern Ireland.
Sinn Féin chairman Mr Mitchell McLaughlin said after the meeting they had put a number of proposals aimed at diffusing tensions between nationalist and loyalist communities.
Mr McLaughlin said there was a growing sense of frustration at the lack of any progress towards a solution of the problem in flashpoint areas. He blamed the recent upsurge in violence on loyalists opposed to the peace process.
Sinn Féin councillor Joe O'Donnell also claims mourners at a church on the Newtownards Road were attacked with bricks and golf balls by loyalists earlier in the evening.
PA