The loyalist feud intensified last night as the UDA shot dead a man in his 20s who is understood to have had UVF connections. The killing happened in Newtownabbey, on the outskirts of north Belfast, despite an increased RUC presence in the area.
The man, who has not yet been named by police, was shot in Ballyronan Park in the loyalist Rathcoole Estate around 6.30 p.m. He is the fourth person to be killed in the feud within five days.
Two gunmen forced their way into his first-floor flat with a sledge hammer and shot the victim several times from close range. He was hit several times while lying on the ground. Several bullets passed through the floor into the flat of the family living below. The victim died at the scene. His girlfriend was with him at the time but was unhurt.
His death brings to seven the number of people killed since the loyalist feud began in August. The killing is understood to have been in retaliation for the UVF murder of former UDA commander Mr Tommy English on Tuesday.
Mr English (40) was also a former member of the paramilitary group's political wing, the Ulster Democratic Party. Speaking at the scene of last night's shooting, local RUC commander Supt Campbell Dixon condemned the killing as "an absolute disgrace". "Human life seems to be worthless", he said. "I repeat my call for people of influence to do what they can to end this madness." He added: "I would ask people to have courage and come forward, we need to have the help of the community."
British soldiers were being drafted into the area to bolster the RUC. "It's a step I don't want to take but it is something I have to do," he said.
On Tuesday, the UDA had shot dead Mr Bertie Rice (63), a worker for the Progressive Unionist Party, the UVF's political wing.
The recent outbreak of the feud was triggered by the UVF killing on Saturday of UDA member Mr David Greer.
Several hundred people, including senior UDA and UDP figures, attended Mr Greer's funeral in north Belfast yesterday.