TWO members of the security forces were injured in a paramilitary attack in a nationalist area of east Belfast last night.
A British army soldier and an RUC officer were members of a joint security forces foot patrol passing through the Short Strand area of the city when a device exploded shortly after 10 p.m. Their injuries were described as being "non life threatening" by the RUC.
In an earlier incident yesterday, a British soldier is recovering in hospital after a grenade attack on a security patrol in north Belfast. He suffered minor injuries when the device hit an army Land Rover in Ardoyne.
The British army said that what appeared to be an improvised grenade hit the vehicle in Etna Drive around noon. Wreckage was strewn over the road. The device is believed to have been fired from a nearby alleyway.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack - bore all the hallmarks of the IRA. The area was sealed off while the RUC moved in to mount a follow up operation. The Alliance party condemned the attack as a mindless act of violence which showed no regard for anyone in the immediate vicinity. The Northern Ireland Security Minister, Sir John Wheeler, condemned the Short Strand attack, saying: "The IRA have once again demonstrated their contempt for human life and democracy.