BELFAST, Northern Ireland (Reuters) — At least 29 police officers were injured here on Saturday when pro-British and Irish nationalist youths clashed after another protest against a decision to limit displays of the British flag at the Belfast City Hall.
The rioting started as the mainly Protestant protesters passed a Catholic area on their way home from a rally in central Belfast. The police used water cannon against the Protestant protesters, who pushed the officers back with metal fencing and ripped up paving stones to hurl at them.
The unrest over the past five weeks has been some of the most sustained in Belfast since a 1998 peace deal ended 30 years of conflict between Catholic Irish nationalists seeking union with Ireland and Protestant loyalists determined that Belfast remain part of the United Kingdom.
Protestant loyalists have held nightly protests since Belfast’s city councilors voted last month to end a century-old tradition of flying the British flag every day over City Hall.
Dozens of Officers Hurt in Belfast as Groups of Youths Clash
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Dozens of Officers Hurt in Belfast as Groups of Youths Clash
