Petrol bombs thrown amid unrest in N.Ireland

LONDON – Northern Ireland police say that rioting men threw petrol bombs on the streets of Belfast amid sectarian clashes there.

The BBC showed video of dozens of masked men on the streets of the Short Strand neighborhood, a Catholic enclave in Protestant east Belfast. The broadcaster quoted Belfast's Sinn Fein Mayor Niall O'Donnghaile as saying that about 100 men were attacking homes with paint and petrol bombs.

Police said Monday no injuries had been reported so far.

It was not immediately clear what caused the disorder. Tensions in Northern Ireland typically flare up ahead of the annual July 12 parades, when thousands of Protestant members of the Orange Order march.

Trouble between Protestants and Catholics often erupts despite official cease-fires and disarmament by outlawed gangs.