Additional British army and RUC patrols are to be mounted in Coleraine, Co Derry, after a spate of sectarian attacks in the town, writes Paul Tanney.
A 76-year-old woman and her son escaped injury after a pipe-bomb attack on their home early yesterday. A man also escaped unhurt after a pipe-bomb exploded in the back garden of his home.
Mr Bill Mathews, an Alliance councillor, said that there had been 15 such attacks in the Coleraine area since June.
A car showroom on the outskirts of Belfast has been damaged after it was targeted by petrol-bombers for a second time. The RUC said that the attack was sectarian.
A Sinn Fein councillor, Mr Paul Butler, said comments by the RUC Chief Constable that republicans were responsible for the murder of a Protestant taxi-driver in the city had encouraged the attacks.
The Continuity IRA has denied any involvement in the murder of the taxi-driver, Mr Trevor Kell. In a statement to The Irish Times last night, it said that such an attack would be contrary to its anti-sectarian principles.