Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) speaks with Commander Ben Russell besides CCTV screens in the Metropolitan Police Command and Control Special Operations Room at Lambeth Police Headquarters in London on 9 August 2024. Picture: Toby Melville / POOL / AFP
Northern Irish police on Sunday criticised “disgusting” rioting by pro-Irish unity youths in Londonderry overnight that injured 10 police, the latest night of disorder to rock the UK region.
The violent scenes in the city, also known as Derry, follow nightly disturbances in Belfast and elsewhere over the last week which initially mirrored unrest in English towns and cities in the wake of the Southport knife attack.
Police have blamed pro-UK loyalist paramilitary groups for helping to fuel the violence in the Northern Irish capital, which has outlasted the riots in England, where recent days and nights have been largely peaceful.
The events there have been blamed on far-right agitators.
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In Londonderry, the 10 officers were injured after rioters threw petrol bombs, fireworks and missiles from late on Saturday.
“The scenes we witnessed were disgusting,” said Derry City and Strabane police Superintendent William Calderwood.
“To see our officers injured as a result of this violence is appalling,” he said, adding that one arrest was made.
Up to 50 youths were involved in the clashes which followed a march through the city by pro-UK loyalists and lasted several hours.
The march, an annual Protestant parade through the Catholic-majority city near the border with the republic of Ireland, passed off earlier without incident.
Disturbances during the annual Protestant marching season are a regular occurrence in Northern Ireland.
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