Sectarian violence has erupted again on the streets of north Belfast as loyalist paramilitaries are accused of trying to goad republicans into retaliating.
Police say stones, bottles and fireworks have been thrown after rival factions, totalling around 200, gathered in the Limestone Road area.
Mr Gerry Kelly, the Sinn Féin Assembly member for the area, says the windows of at least 10 nationalist houses were smashed as loyalist gangs emerged from the nearby Tiger's Bay.
Mr Kelly blames the trouble on the loyalist Ulster Defence Association, saying: "It's a concerted attack on Catholics and its getting worse."
Earlier, workmen in the nationalist Ardoyne area escaped injury when a pipe bomb exploded at a community centre complex. Two devices had been launched at Brookefield Mill at a flashpoint area of the Crumlin Road, but army experts defused the second bomb.
Sinn Féin councillor Ms Margaret McClenaghan warned: "It's just a matter of time before someone will be killed. They are coming over from the loyalist side to do this, hoping they'll get a reaction."
The attack came after shots were fired during sectarian clashes in another flashpoint area of north Belfast. Trouble flared when opposing crowds at Clifton Park Avenue taunted each other before hurling bricks and stones.
An RUC spokesman said a number of shots were then discharged from a hand gun at Alloa Street on the loyalist side towards a crowd on the nationalist Cliftonville Road.
The police spokesman said officers arrived on the scene quickly and calmed the situation. He added that a 19-year-old woman went to hospital alleging she had been shot in the leg at Clifton Park Avenue.
A separate pipe bomb was defused by British army explosives experts after being discovered in the north of the city. The crude device was found at Newington Street, and a number of items were taken away for forensic examination.
Seven RUC officers were injured during the rioting, police said later. During the disturbances a number of windows were smashed in a house in the Newington area, an RUC spokeswoman added.
PA