Nine interrogated over North Ireland killings

Nine people were being quizzed yesterday about the murder of two soldiers and a policeman in Northern Ireland, as the police chief compared dissident groups behind the attacks to a "cornered animal".

A 30-year-old woman and a man, 37, were arrested on Saturday over the killing of constable Stephen Carroll, who was shot while on duty last Monday. A 17-year-old youth and two other men are already in custody over the attack.

Meanwhile, police investigating the shooting of two soldiers at a barracks faced a hail of petrol bombs and stones hurled by rioting youths in Lurgan near Belfast, where a gun and ammunition were discovered in house searches.