Masked gunmen shot a 15-year-old schoolboy in the legs in Northern Ireland today in an attack widely blamed on paramilitary groups.
Matthew Campbell was shot after the gang forced their way into a house in a staunchly pro-British "loyalist" area of Coleraine, a town in the north of the British province.
The attack comes amid a rise in tension between Northern Ireland's Protestants and Catholics, who have shared power since a 1998 peace deal brought an end to three decades of sectarian bombings and shootings known as the Troubles.
There have been a string of security alerts in recent weeks, including the attempted murder of an ex-policeman with a bomb under his car, while petrol bombs were thrown at the Belfast office of the centrist Alliance Party at the weekend.
Nearly 70 people have been arrested over paramilitary-type attacks in the province since June.
Today's shooting revived memories of the so-called "knee-cappings" that were frequently used by both loyalist and Catholic republican paramilitaries during the Troubles.
The teenager underwent emergency surgery after the early morning attack and was in a stable condition, according to the Belfast Health Trust.
Will Kerr, assistant chief constable of Northern Ireland's police service, described the attack as "madness" but said it was too early to identify any suspects.
