UP to 24 police officers have been injured in Belfast as violence erupted following Orange Order parades in the city, while a teenage girl was hurt when a car struck nationalist protestors.
After a generally peaceful July Twelfth in the North of Ireland, the disturbances flared up in North Belfast, where PSNI officers prevented the unionist parades from marching into the nationalist Ardoyne area.
The officers were hit with bricks, bottles and pieces of masonry as they attempted to prevent the crowds from entering the nationalist stretch of the Crumlin Road that the Orange Order are barred from marching along.
Officers were in place in riot gear for the marches, with helmets and flame retardant suits on, as well as shields to protect themselves.
One senior officer, who is believed to have not been wearing a helmet, was struck on the head with a brick, rendering him unconscious. He was pulled away from the violence by his fellow PSNI officers.
Masked men and teenagers attempted to break through the police barriers but were forced back by the officers and water cannons.
Loyalists protest at the barriers blocking the nationalist stretch of the Crumlin Road to marchers (Getty Images)On the banned stretch of road where residents had gathered, a 16-year-old girl was injured when a car struck nationalist protestors, pinning her beneath a wheel.
The PSNI managed to free the girl and the driver was arrested.
PSNI officers attend to the girl after lifting the car off her (Getty Images)Police in the North of Ireland have blocked the Orange Order parades from marching through Ardoyne since 2013, in an effort to curb the violence that flares up on the Twelfth every year.
The Twelfth is a national holiday in the North of Ireland where the Ulster Protestant community celebrate the victory of the Protestant King William of Orange over Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
Each year, large scale parades take place across the province – this year more than 600 were organised.
Police record events during disturbances at the Ardoyne interface (Getty Images)
A protestor covers his face while holding a stepladder (Getty Images)
Trouble flares into the night in North Belfast (Getty Images)See More: Featured, July Twelfth, Orange Order
