Masked men hijacked and set a bus on fire in Northern Ireland

A bus was hijacked and set on fire near an interface in Belfast after violence broke out again in Northern Ireland on Wednesday evening.

Rioters focused on the so-called love line street that connects the loyalist community of Shankhill Road with the nationalist Springfield Road.

The bus driver and police officers were struck by youths throwing rocks, and Molotov cocktails and a journalist was assaulted.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "deeply troubled" by the scenes of violence, saying: "The way to resolve disputes is through dialogue, not force or criminality."

A firework blasts as Nationalist and Loyalist rebels clash with one extra at the peace wall on Lanark Way in West Belfast, Northern Ireland. April 7. Prime Minister Arlene Foster denounced the rioters and branded their behaviour an commitment to Northern Ireland.

"This does not protest. This is killing and tried murder. These actions do not represent unionism or loyalism," she said.

In a statement, Northern Ireland's police union condemned "shocking pictures which could set our nation back years" and "violence on both surfaces of the interface at Lanark Way."

"Calm is required on both sides of the gates before we are also looking at a tragedy. These are scenes we are hoping had been confined to history."

A total of 41 policemen officers have been injured as six nights of violence on the streets of many cities in Northern Ireland, including Londonderry and Belfast.

It comes at a time of rising forces between Loyalist and Nationalist political factions in Northern Ireland and between a COVID-19 lockdown. Northern Ireland's Stormont Assembly has also been recalled for an emergency discussion on the violence.