The streets of Belfast are ablaze once again this evening with Real IRA protesters hijacking and blowing up vehicles outside police stations.

Police and the security services are on high alert.

Dozens of hooded men are hijacking cars, lorries and vans in the Alliance, Andersonstown and Ardoyne areas - one was set alight outside the police station on North Queens Street, another on Tenant Street and the last at an unoccupied station.

The protests were in response to the arrest of prominent republican Colin Duffy who was charged with the murder of two unarmed soldiers outside their barracks in Antrim.

Our contact in North Belfast was driving a bus load of school children when the violence broke out.

Group warned more bloodshed - officers re arming

Republican Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Continuity IRA warned last week of more bloodshed. That group has claimed responsibility for the shooting dead of police man Stephen Carroll in Lurgan earlier this month.

Yesterday the Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed it was re arming and issuing officers with flack jackets for the first time in years in a response to the growing dissident threat.

Several dissident Republicans were arrested in Dublin at the weekend after Gardai found pipe bombs and explosives were uncovered in Fermanagh with further searches conducted near Newtownbutler on the border.

The full force of Britain's anti-terror operation is currently being deployed in London for this weeks G20 meeting.

Roads closed

Kingsway at Dunmurry, Blacks Roads and Stewartstown Road have all been closed.

Hillview Road in the Oldpark area, Andersonstown Road in west Belfast and Upper Newtownards Road near the Stormont hotel are also closed.

The M1 city-bound is closed at Lurgan because of an hijacked vehicle.

A lorry has also been hijacked and set on fire on Upper Springfield Road, and a van which was burnt out close to Holy Cross church on the Crumlin Road is also causing disruption, the police said.