Northern Ireland’s police commander says 32 officers have been wounded and reinforcements are arriving from Britain to combat rioting by Protestant extremists inspired by the Orange Order brotherhood.
Chief Constable Matt Baggott said on Saturday that 400 officers from England, Scotland and Wales had been deployed on Belfast’s streets to help prevent any direct Catholic-Protestant clashes a day after the Orangemen’s annual July 12 parades descended into chaos in two parts of the capital.
Mr. Baggott blamed leaders of the Orange Order for encouraging mobs to try to overwhelm police lines in north Belfast, where officers blocked one small parade from passing a hostile Catholic district.
