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Anti-internment march: Minor trouble amid tight security in Belfast | |
(35 minutes later) | |
There has been minor trouble at a loyalist protest against a republican anti-internment rally in Belfast. | |
The march began at about 13:00 BST in the north of the city and passed through Belfast's main shopping district. | |
Loyalists staged demonstrations against the parade that marks the anniversary of internment in August 1971. | |
A small number of protesters threw fireworks, plastic bottles and coins at the parade. No-one was injured. | |
At the same event last year, 56 officers were injured when loyalists protesters attacked the police. | At the same event last year, 56 officers were injured when loyalists protesters attacked the police. |
This year's republican march was organised by the Anti-Internment League, to mark the introduction of detention without trial during the height of the Troubles. | |
The league told the Parades Commission that it expected 4,000 people to take part in the march, with a similar number of supporters. | |
The rally began at Ardoyne Avenue in the north of the city, before heading towards the city centre. | |
A group of about 200 loyalists staged a protest, and trouble erupted as the parade passed Castlecourt shopping centre. | |
BBC NI reporter Mark Simpson said a small number of the protesters threw some missiles. | |
"The loyalists claimed that the republicans had taunted them about IRA atrocities including the Shankill bomb and the Enniskillen bomb. | |
"The city centre has now returned to normal." | |
Many roads in the city centre were closed to traffic during the parade. | |
Loyalist protesters had applied to stage two counter-demonstrations against the march. | |
The Parades Commission has placed restrictions on the number of loyalists permitted to attend the protests, limiting them to total of 400 people at two demonstration points. | The Parades Commission has placed restrictions on the number of loyalists permitted to attend the protests, limiting them to total of 400 people at two demonstration points. |