10 Jul 2011

Police injured in Northern Ireland riot

5:12 pm on 10 July 2011

Six police officers have been hurt and a bus has been hijacked in rioting in Northern Ireland.

Police say the trouble at the town of Ballyclare, outside Belfast, started when a crowd of 70 to 100 people attacked police officers with petrol bombs and missiles.

The officers were hurt when the hijacked bus was crashed into a police vehicle.

The police fired plastic bullets and used water cannon to disperse the rioters.

The crowd was reported to have been angered after the police came to remove what they describe as sectarian flags in the town.

Tensions in Northern Ireland typically flare up ahead of the annual July parades, when thousands of Protestant members of the Orange Order march.