Armed, masked activists burn hijacked bus in pro-British unionist town of Newtownards

Two masked and armed men hijacked a bus in County Down before covering it in fuel and burning it, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has said. A local politician claimed it was “a protest against the NI Protocol.”

The incident occurred in the Abbot Drive area of Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland, at around 6:30 GMT on Monday. The masked men demanded the driver leave the bus before they hijacked and destroyed the vehicle, leaving behind a burned shell. No one was injured in the arson attack.

Addressing the incident, Strangford Ulster Unionist Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Mike Nesbitt, who represents the area, claimed the attack was “supposedly as a protest against the NI Protocol.”

“There is absolutely no justification for the hijacking and destruction of a bus in the Abbot Drive area of Newtownards around 06:30 this morning,” Nesbitt added.

The Newtownards area is a pro-British unionist region, where activists have been arguing that the Northern Ireland Protocol, implemented as part of the Brexit withdrawal deal, is undermining peace. The protocol divided Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, essentially establishing a border in the Irish Sea, to prevent a hard border from being established between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. In an attempt to protect the Good Friday Agreement, goods coming from or heading to the EU are currently checked when moving between the UK and Northern Ireland.

Nonetheless, unionist politicians in Northern Ireland have claimed that the Brexit deal is undermining peace, and riots and disorder have broken out in the region in opposition to the current arrangements. Unionists argue the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which effectively creates a border in the Irish Sea, is weakening the region’s status as a part of the UK, pushing it towards Ireland, the EU and the possibility of Irish reunification.

Despite the UK’s attempts to alter the Brexit deal to address these concerns, the EU has, so far, rejected those requests, claiming the measure is required to protect the bloc’s single market.

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