PSNI to investigate Belfast riots

A special PSNI team is being set up to try and identify those at the heart of the riots which have engulfed North Belfast for…

A special PSNI team is being set up to try and identify those at the heart of the riots which have engulfed North Belfast for much of the past year, it was disclosed today.

From tomorrow a sergeant and eight constables will be working full time for a month viewing video film shot during clashes in a bid to identify and arrest those responsible.

Another weekend of rioting left four police officers and a soldier injured, bringing the total for the last 10 months to 603.

One officer is in a serious condition in hospital after being struck by a BMW car which deliberately drove at him while he was on riot duty and dragged him 250 yards down the road beneath its wheels.

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Another, a WPc, received her injuries when rioters stormed a police vehicle and tried to drag her from it.

There have been 369 petrol bomb attacks and 168 blast bomb attacks - many involving numerous devices - during the past 10 months.