BELFAST: Over 60 officers have been injured in an outbreak of antiimmigrant unrest in Northern Ireland, police in the British province said on Saturday, following a fifth night of violence.

`Over sixty officers have now been injured as a result of protecting the community from the ongoing disorder this week, police said in a statement, without giving a precise number.

Police used a water cannon on Friday to contain violence in the town of Portadown, west of Belfast, said the statement. Petrol bombs and fireworks were thrown at riot police during the disorder, according to local media.

A hotel was also attacked in Newtownabbey, near thecapital Belfast, in a `racially motivated hate crime`, while a police vehicle was damaged in the region`s second city Londonderry, police added.

Three nights of violence had already hit Ballymena, some 50 kilometres northwest of Belfast, leaving a trail of damage.

The clashes first erupted in Ballymena on Monday night after two teenagers were arrested for the alleged attempted rape of a young girl at the weekend.

Police have not confirmed the ethnicity of the teenagers, who remain in custody and had asked for a Romanian interpreter in court.

The disorder then spread to Belfast and other provincial towns.

-AFP