A SENIOR RUC officer has said that the hijacking and burning of five vehicles by masked gunmen in loyalist areas of north and west Belfast was a well co-ordinated operation.
The hijackings took place during a 40 minute period on Monday night in the lower Shankill, Woodvale, Ballysillan and Crumlin Road areas.
They were in protest at allegedly heavy handed house searches by police. Two buses and three vans were burnt. Citybus said it would cost £220,000 to replace the buses.
The Ulster Democratic Party, which has an insight into UDA thinking, said tension had been running high in the area. Police, believed to be investigating paramilitary funding, carried out five house searches recently.
However, Supt Robert Verner said he did not know how the searches could have prompted the violence. There was no sign of RUC over reaction during the raids and no complaints of incivility or excess force had been made, he added.
He believed that the hijackings had been planned and coordinated in advance. It was the first major street violence in Belfast since republican protests last summer over the release of Private Lee Clegg.