Belfast: man shot in legs in 'punishment' attack

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/sep/25/belfast-shot-legs-punishment-lower-falls

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Armed men have abducted a 29-year-old man in west Belfast and driven him to a place where he was shot four times in the legs.

The police are treating the abduction and shooting as a so-called paramilitary punishment attack.

The victim was walking in the Balkan Street/Leeson Street area of the Lower Falls on Tuesday night when a car pulled up beside him and three men forced him inside.

He was driven deeper into west Belfast and eventually taken to a spot at Downfine Walk, in the Turf Lodge district.

The man was then shot twice in each leg and left in the street until an ambulance arrived.

He was taken to hospital for treatment to his injuries, which are not believed to be life-threatening.

There has been an increase in such attacks in west Belfast as dissident republican groups seek to win support in the community by being seen as standing up to alleged criminal elements and drug dealers.

The instant "justice" offered by the dissident republicans is also designed to challenge the authority of the Police Service of Northern Ireland in nationalist working-class areas of Belfast and beyond.