Two held as police investigate stabbings in Tyrone and Armagh

Two men were being questioned last night as part of investigations into separate stabbings in the North.

Two men were being questioned last night as part of investigations into separate stabbings in the North.

The pair were arrested by detectives investigating an attack on a man who was knifed in the neck in Dungannon, Co Tyrone.

The victim, aged 23, was stabbed by two men as he walked through a car park at Greer's Way in the town at about 3.15am yesterday. He was later described as being in a stable condition in hospital.

At about the same time, another man was stabbed during an unconnected attack in Lurgan, Co Armagh.

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He suffered stomach wounds in the attack at Shankill Street, but his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening. Police do not believe a sectarian motive was involved.

Meanwhile, two men were arrested after a gang assault on club-goers in Co Antrim.

A man and two women were attacked after leaving Ballymena United social club in the town at about 1.30am.

They sustained minor injuries, but the gang then turned on two men and a woman who came to their aid at Broughshane Street.

One of the victims suffered a serious ear injury that needed hospital treatment.

Police are also hunting the attacker of an 18-year-old woman who was seriously injured when she was assaulted with a hammer on Friday. The victim was in her flat in the Inishargie Gardens area of Bangor, Co Down, when her attacker is believed to have called at her door shortly after 5pm, a police spokeswoman said.

She was hit over the head a number of times with the hammer.

The man who assaulted her is described as about 5ft 10in with a heavy build, wearing a black fleece bomber jacket and a black monkey hat.

Police have yet to establish a motive for the attack and are appealing for anyone with information or who might have seen the man to contact them.

A police spokesman said they did not know if the attack was paramilitary or sectarian.

"The girl was punched once in the face and then hit with a hammer blow, leaving her with a considerable amount of bruising on the left side of her head. She is obviously very badly shaken."

He said the woman, who lives alone, had given a description to the police but did not get a good look at her attacker. She described him as being between his late teens and early 30s.