Water cannon, injured police: Belfast parade ends in street mayhem

Water cannon, injured police: Belfast parade ends in street mayhem (VIDEO)

Published time: July 12, 2013 21:07
Edited time: July 13, 2013 10:31

Violence erupted for six hours during the annual Twelfth of July Orange Order parade in northern Belfast as police attempted to block loyalist marchers from entering a nationalist neighborhood.

Additional police forces from Britain were called on to provide security for the marches. Numbers of Members of the Orange Order were estimated to be in the tens of thousands, dispersed across twelve venues.

The trouble began as Protestant marchers - who hold Orange parades every summer to proclaim their loyalty to the United Kingdom - passed a group of nationalists at St Patrick’s church near the Ardoyne area of Belfast. Tensions mounted between the two sides as nationalists charged the Orange Parade bandsmen and threw projectiles at them. Officers then intervened, forming a cordon between the two groups.

Petrol bombs, bricks and fireworks were hurled at the police who responded with water cannon, the BBC reported.

Authorities reported "dozens" of police and North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds have been injured in the ensuing violence.