Blast in Catholic Area Injures 2

An explosion rocked a Roman Catholic area of Belfast, injuring two men, officials said. The BBC cited “security sources” as saying an explosive device caused the blast. Northern Ireland police said it was not yet clear what prompted the bomb attack. The explosion came a day after a pro-British guerrilla group, the Ulster Freedom Fighters, threatened to end its six-year cease-fire unless Catholic republicans stopped attacking Protestants in Belfast, the provincial capital. A hospital spokeswoman said the blast victims--whom eyewitnesses identified as father and son--were both “ill but stable.”