UDA unit carried out shooting on 15-yearold: Chief Constable

SPLITS among loyalist paramilitary groups such as the UDA and UVF are of major concern for police, according to PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott.

He connected gun attacks in eastBelfast , Coleraine and Portrush to individual paramilitary units seeking to exert their power.

The Chief Constable said: “At present we are concerned about developments within loyalist paramilitary groups.

“Our assessment is that they are fragmenting and we are seeing a number of competing agendas and increased lack of cohesion which is of a concern.”

Punishment-style attacks including the shooting of a 15-year-old schoolboy in Harpur’s Hill, Coleraine last month were also attributed to a single unit of the UDA.

Mr Baggott added: “Again there is no reporting to indicate that those attacks were sanctioned by the overall UDA leadership. It is again believed those attacks were carried out by individual members of the UDA in the north Antrim area.

““We will continue to relentlessly pursue people who break the law and bring crime to our streets.

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