A senior PSNI officer said she is in “no doubt” there is a “paramilitary element” to the disorder that has rocked Belfast in recent days.
Violence flared after an anti-immigration protest in the city on Saturday.
And Monday night saw riot police deployed again in the Sandy Row and Donegall Road area when further trouble broke out.
A 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of riotous behaviour, while in a separate incident a man in his 50s was taken to hospital after he was “seriously assaulted” in the Donegall Road and Oban Street area.
At one stage rioters attempted to set a Sandy Row supermarket – which had already been burnt out during Saturday’s disorder – alight for a second time.
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Speaking this afternoon, Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones said: “The scenes we have witnessed over the past few days have been horrendous.
“There has been violence, assaults, damage to property, arson, racist slurs used unashamedly on our streets. This is not who we are as a society and the majority of our citizens are rightly appalled by this behaviour.”
She added: “I would also highlight the work that’s ongoing to support those vulnerable and minority communities that have been particularly affected by these terrible events and disorder.
“We are working with those groups on a daily basis at pace to provide them with the support and reassurance and crime prevention advice that they need at this very difficult time.”
Disorder in the Sandy Row area of Belfast on August 5th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott)
Asked about reports of paramilitaries being involved in the disorder, Ms Jones said: “I have no doubt there is a paramilitary element to this, but I am not in a position to say that this is the main organiser or orchestrator of these events.
“However, we do keep an open mind to this and this will be part of our investigative strategy.”
Ms Jones said what happened on Monday night was different from Saturday.
“On Saturday, we saw mainly older, adult people who became involved in disorder,” she said.
“Last night it was clear to us that there was a younger element, teenagers mainly, who were involved in the disorder, but there was an element of organisation and orchestration from what appeared to be older adults present at the scene.”
Asked about those on social media organising rioting and spreading misinformation, the senior officer said: “We have a widespread investigation ongoing, both to deal with what we’ve seen happen but also to identify who is responsible for orchestrating, organising and stirring up violence and disorder in the background.
“That is an active line of investigation. We continue to work with colleagues across the UK to make sure that we are picking up on anything that is relevant here from their investigations and their intelligence gathering.”