Cars and buses were set alight in loyalist areas of Belfast last night following the announcement that daylight British army patrols were to be halted in the west of the city. The move has been welcomed by nationalists but greeted with fury by unionists and loyalists.
Vehicles were burned on the Shankill, Crumlin and Ballygomartin Roads and police came under petrol bomb attack when they moved in to deal with the disturbances. A bus driver was seriously injured in the Crumlin Road area when his bus was stopped by masked men who demanded money and sprinkled petrol over his vehicle. But it caught fire after being stuck by a petrol bomb. He is being treated in hospital for serious burns to his chest and legs.