Newtownards and Bangor weekend attacks linked to loyalist tensions

A forensic officer in Moyne Gardens in Newtownards after two petrol bombs were thrown at a house

Police are investigating links between several weekend attacks involving petrol and pipe bombs in north Down.

In the latest incident on Sunday, a 62-year-old man was treated by paramedics after petrol bombs were thrown at a house in Newtownards.

There were another two petrol bomb attacks on Saturday, one in Newtownards, another in Bangor.

Police said eight houses had been attacked since Wednesday, many of which were occupied.

Officers said the attacks were linked to an ongoing feud between "two rival drug gangs operating under the banner of the Ulster Defence Association in the North Down and Ards areas".

The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) was formed during the Troubles but began to splinter into criminal gangs once the conflict ended.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) was called to put out Sunday's blaze in Moyne Gardens.

A brick was thrown through a front window and two petrol bombs were thrown into the property, which caused fire damage to the window ledge, roof and floor.

Damage was also caused to a car parked outside the property, police said.

What is the UDA?

The Ulster Defence Association, formed in 1971, had tens of thousands of members at its peak.

It killed hundreds of people during the Troubles in Northern Ireland and often claimed responsibility for sectarian murders using the cover name the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF).

The UDA remained a legal organisation until it was banned in August 1992.

Notorious attacks by the UFF included the shooting dead of five Catholics at a Belfast bookmakers in 1992 and the Greysteel massacre the following year.

The South East Antrim Ulster Defence Association is a standalone faction of the UDA and was once part of its inner council.

Security sources have previously said that with more than 2,000 members, it is one of Northern Ireland's largest paramilitary gangs.

According to a previous MI5-police intelligence assessment, the South East Antrim UDA"has access to arms and is heavily involved in drugs supply, community coercion, intimidation and other criminality.

Read more here.

North Down and Ards district commander Supt Johnston McDowell from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said the eight houses had been attacked with a pipe bomb, petrol bombs and "other implements".

He said there had also been two attempted hijackings and incidents of graffiti daubed on properties.

Supt McDowell said all of the attacks were unacceptable, but described petrol and pipe bomb attacks as being particularly reckless.

Among the attacks was an incident on Saturday when a number of windows were broken and extensive damage was caused to the front of a property in Dicksonia Drive, Newtownards.

"Luckily no-one was at home at the time of the attack, which is being treated as arson with intent to endanger life," said a police spokesperson.

A pipe bomb was thrown at a house in Bowtown Road in the town at about 21:35 GMT on Saturday.

A petrol bomb attack caused significant damage to a house in Dicksonia Drive in Newtownards on Saturday

It was reported that a front window and a wall at the property were damaged during the incident.

The property was occupied at the time, but there were no reports of any injuries.

In Bangor, a petrol bomb was thrown at a house in Skipperstone Road on Saturday.

A number of windows were broken and scorch damage was caused to the property during the attack. Three people who were in the house at the time were uninjured.

Police said that attack was being treated as arson with intent to endanger life.