Rioters on Monday night hurled petrol bombs, bottles, and bricks at police officers in Belfast, Northern Ireland’s capital, as reported by local media.
The violence erupted during nighttime protests that have swept across the UK since last week. A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Islamic Center in Belfast.
Riot police and drones were deployed, and police used Attenuating Energy Projectile (AEP) rounds against the rioters, according to the Belfast Telegraph.
Monday night’s unrest was primarily driven by loyalists, who traditionally oppose Irish nationalists seeking the unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland.
“There is no place anywhere on our island for racism or attacks on minority communities,” First Minister Michelle O’Neill wrote on X following earlier disturbances on Saturday, where some businesses owned by Muslim refugees were damaged or destroyed.
O’Neill emphasized the necessity of holding those responsible for the racist violence accountable.
Far-Right Violence
The UK has experienced far-right riots for days, with violent mobs spreading racist and Islamophobic rhetoric and targeting Muslims, minority groups, and migrants.
The riots were sparked by online misinformation that a suspect arrested after a fatal stabbing in Southport, England, last week was a Muslim asylum seeker, which was later proven false.
Three young girls were killed and five more children critically injured during a knife attack at a dance class last Monday.
Far-right groups are planning further violence targeting asylum and immigration centers in London and other parts of the UK on Wednesday.
“There will be a reckoning for criminals and thugs who took part in violence on streets, burning buildings, attacks on mosques, looting shops, and the whipping up of racist violence online,” Home Secretary Yvette Cooper warned the far-right rioters on X.
Fragile Peace
Belfast, a city with a history of conflict, has maintained a fragile peace since the end of the Troubles in 1998. This era of conflict involved the British government and pro-British paramilitaries on one side and Irish Republicans and nationalists on the other.
The Troubles officially ended with the Belfast Agreement, also known as the Good Friday Agreement, signed on April 10, 1998, by the UK and the Republic of Ireland, with the mediation of the US and eight political parties in Northern Ireland.
The agreement brought an end to decades of armed struggle, which claimed the lives of 3,500 people.–News Desk