Sectarian violence flared up again in Northern Ireland on Saturday night when police were attacked with Molotov cocktails after a unionist demonstration in the city.
At least 10 police officers were assaulted and injured in Londonderry on Saturday evening. Reported A group of Irish nationalist youths during “hours of unrest” on Naylor’s Row.
So far, police have arrested one person in connection with the incident, but police made 31 arrests as violence spread across the city between Friday and Saturday evening. Delhi Journal Reports.
in statementSuperintendent William Calderwood, of Derry and Strabane, said: “The scenes we witnessed were disturbing and I would like to commend our officers for their professionalism. This has been a difficult situation for officers across many departments.”
“It’s terrible to see officers being injured as a result of this violence. It’s completely unacceptable.”
The arson attack took place after the Derry Apprentice Relief Parade took place in the city, an annual celebration marking the end of the 1689 Siege of Derry, in which local Protestants successfully defeated the Catholic Jacobite forces of King James II.
Petrol bombs have been hurled at the PSNI in Derry.
pic.twitter.com/u43z4bQ5XD— Toby (@ThoughtsToby) August 10, 2024
More than 5,000 members of The Apprentice Boys and 130 bands took part in the parade. The parade is an important day for local unionists in Northern Ireland (also known as Ulster), who support remaining part of the UK rather than joining the Republic of Ireland to the south.
Londonderry was one of the centres of the Troubles, a decades-long conflict between Irish nationalists and pro-British unionists, and the city witnessed the first major act of conflict, the so-called Battle of the Bogside Following the same 1969 parade of Apprentice Boys.
The incident in Naylor’s Row is not related to the large-scale anti-immigrant protests and riots that have spread across the UK, including Northern Ireland, over the past two weeks, but police reported several attacks that appeared to be ethnically motivated in the city on Saturday.
The PSNI said a mosque in Greenwell Street, Newtownards, was attacked with an unexploded bomb and the building was vandalised with racist graffiti, while two cars were set on fire in what police believe to be “racially motivated” incidents.
Acting Deputy Chief Superintendent Melanie Jones said: “We continue to investigate all reports of recent street disturbances and will make further arrests. “The outpouring of support from our communities for our Muslim neighbours is heartening and more accurately reflects the views of the majority of Northern Ireland’s citizens.”
The British Union Jack and Irish tricolour flags are flown side by side at an anti-immigration rally in Northern Irelandhttps://t.co/iaukdsA9SP
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 3, 2024
