The Ulster Volunteer Force has been blamed by senior police after a second night of serious rioting in Belfast. Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay said the loyalist paramilitary group started the trouble and there was no sense of it trying to finish it.
Last night, a press photographer was shot in the leg and petrol bombs and other missiles were hurled at police in East Belfast as hundreds of people gathered at flashpoints.
Mr Finlay said: "The UVF in East Belfast started this - there was no sense of anyone trying to finish that.
"Their hands are upon this, whether by direction, by omission or commission."
A 20-year-old woman was arrested on a weapons charge during the rioting, which saw youths smashing police vehicles with sledgehammers and hurling petrol bombs.
A water cannon vehicle sustained a cracked windscreen and there were marks from live fire.
Several shots were discharged and a Press Association photographer was shot in the right leg. He is recovering in hospital.
Police fired 66 baton rounds.
Mr Finlay said the attacks were less orchestrated than the previous night, when two people were injured by gunfire.
He appealed for parents to look after their children.
He refused to say whether the shots were fired from the nationalist Short Strand or the loyalist Newtownards Road but called for dialogue to discuss all issues behind the violence.
"Last night again we witnessed serious, sustained violence.
"Over two nights we have seen three people shot and injured, communities wrecked, houses and businesses damaged, lives put at serious risk.
"This has got to stop, it is a time for cool heads, for people to take a step back."
Mr Finlay added: "This is a bad thing for the community, this is a bad thing for Northern Ireland.
"We need to bring an end to this needless violence, violence which has put lives at risk."
He said police were the "peace makers" and were protecting the community by minimising the risk.
"We are experienced at this, tragically, in Northern Ireland," he observed grimly.
He defended the fact that only one arrest was made and said that was not necessarily the priority in situations involving public disorder.
Police made arrests following violence last summer using CCTV images of rioters.
Officers are holding secret talks with community representatives today to try to prevent further trouble.
Mr Finlay said everybody needed to understand the issues around proper representation and other challenges facing the working-class communities.
Police are also working with social workers to try to identify children who may have become caught up in the rioting.
Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness condemned the riots, as well as a separate bomb attack aimed at police in west Belfast.
Mr Robinson said: "At this time when many are working hard to build a better and brighter future for all in Northern Ireland, it is disappointing and deeply concerning to see this level of violence return to our streets."
He added: "We have given clear commitments to continue to deliver progress for all within the community including in those areas most at need. This type of behaviour damages the local economy and unfairly mars the reputation of the community."
Mr McGuinness said: "A small minority of individuals are clearly determined to destabilise our communities. They will not be allowed to drag us back to the past.
"I call on all those involved to take a step back and to remain calm. I support the efforts of community leaders on all sides who have been working on the ground to restore calm in east Belfast."
The sudden upsurge in violence is being described as the worst the city has seen in years and loyalist community workers blamed simmering tensions at the notorious sectarian interface.
But other observers blamed rivalries inside the UVF, fuelled by anger at restrictions placed on contentious parades, plus the efforts of police to probe crimes from the Troubles as part of an ongoing review of cases by the Historical Enquiries Team.
The UVF is one of the biggest loyalist groups and, despite having observed a ceasefire and having decommissioned its weapons, it was blamed for a murder last year.
A paramilitary watchdog found that the UVF's leadership sanctioned what was branded the "public execution" of loyalist Bobby Moffett, who was shot dead in front of shoppers on Belfast's Shankill Road.
But the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) stopped short of recommending government sanction of the UVF.
The recent appearance of UVF murals in east Belfast depicting masked and armed men was seen as a bid by the group to stamp its mark.
The location of the riot is an inner city area, not far from the centre of Belfast, and has been a long-standing flashpoint.
The Short Strand is a small Catholic community in the predominantly Protestant east of the city.
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