A loyalist paramilitary boss was targeted in a bomb attack for the third time today as a bitter power struggle among rival factions intensified.
A pipe bomb was found in the garden of the home of UDA commander John Gregg on the outskirts of Belfast, just two days after a similar device was defused at the property.
Earlier this month Gregg discovered explosives packed to his car.
As security forces confirmed British army bomb disposal experts had made the device safe, sources close to the UDA chief claimed former colleagues expelled from the organisation were responsible.
Notorious C Company leaders, based in west Belfast's Lower Shankill estate, were ousted in October after allegedly siding with another loyalist grouping in an earlier dispute.
A loyalist source close to the UDA said: "This is another attack from the Lower Shankill. They are going to push this thing too far."
The pipe bomb was found Mr Gregg's home in Nendrum Gardens, in the Rathcoole area of Newtownabbey this morning.
Earlier this week shots were fired into the nearby home of loyalist councillor Tommy Kirkham.
He is a prominent member of the Ulster Political Research Group which is linked to the main UDA element. The UDA source warned today that the attacks would not be allowed to continue. He said: "People in the Shankill have suffered for more than 30 years due to the IRA and the loyalist feud between the UDA and UVF.
"This time all the attacks have been outside the Shankill and there have been no retaliatory strikes on it because people understand how much they have suffered. "But how long that restraint can continue I hate to think," he said.
PA