Two children escaped injury when their home was destroyed in a sectarian attack as violence flared at several interface areas in north Belfast on Monday night.
Two houses on the nationalist Newington Avenue were extensively damaged by fire when blast bombs ignited an oil tank at one of the houses. The attack happened shortly before 10 p.m. Two other houses were damaged by the fire.
Local residents blamed loyalists and said it was the third time the homes had been targeted in five weeks. The woman whose house was attacked said her two children were lucky to have escaped with their lives.
"My nerves are wrecked because every time I go to bed, every sound I hear, I jump. I can't remember the last night I slept," she said.
A police spokesman said 21 officers were injured in overnight rioting between rival nationalist and loyalist gangs at four separate locations - North Queen Street, the Limestone Road, Ardoyne, and the Whitewell Road.
In the Ardoyne area more than 92 petrol bombs were thrown and five shots were fired at police from the loyalist side.
North Belfast PUP MLA Mr Billy Hutchinson, whose party is linked to the loyalist paramilitary UVF, claimed the trouble began when nationalists attacked a community centre, causing a full-scale riot.
In the Limestone Road area 39 petrol bombs and a blast bomb were thrown. Three shots were fired from the nationalist side.
Eight petrol bombs were thrown in North Queen Street, while two blast bombs were thrown in the Whitewell Road area.
Sinn Fein councillor Mr Danny Lavery blamed loyalists for the violence. "It is only by pure luck that nobody died during last night's orgy of violence. Once again we see the UDA orchestrating attacks against the nationalist community," he said.
Meanwhile, a 17-year-old Protestant man has claimed republicans tried to abduct him from a black taxi near Ardoyne on Monday.
The car was stuck in traffic on the Crumlin Road when it was approached by two men. The men, he said, smashed the window of the passenger door and tried to drag him onto the street. The man said he only remained in the taxi because of the actions of the driver who held onto him while driving off.
The man was sharing the taxi at the time with his 42-year-old mother, 21-year-old sister, and four-year-old niece.