Tension remains high in Northern Ireland's capital Belfast on Sunday following an overnight violent clash which saw one civilian shot dead, several police injured.

Youths have blocked a road in east Belfast early Sunday morning while barricades are erected. There are heavy police presence to guard against further riots.

The clash broke out Saturday night between police and loyalists sparked by the rerouting of an Orange Order parade celebrating a battle victory of Protestants over Catholics.

Loyalist rioters attacked police with homemade bombs, guns and bricks, injuring at least six officers. Cars were hijacked and roads were also blocked in Belfast as the violence spread. One civilian was shot, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported on Sunday.

The Northern Ireland police chief had blamed the Protestant Orange Order for bearing "substantial responsibility" for Saturday's outbreak of violence.

The Belfast Orange Order described his remarks as "inflammatory" and police actions as "brutal and heavy-handed".

A BBC reporter referred to the clash as "intense as anything seen in Northern Ireland since the late 1990s."

Northern Ireland Security Minister Shaun Woodward described the rioting as "appalling".

"The attacks on both police and soldiers, some of whom have been seriously injured, are to be utterly condemned," he said.

Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, earlier blamed the Parades Commission for not reviewing the route that barred it from a nationalist area. The parade was rerouted to avoid the mainly nationalist area.

After a request by unionists on Friday, the Parades Commission reviewed its ruling on the route, but decided not to change it.

"The commission treated elected representatives with contempt by its refusal to even call us to put our case," said Paisley.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2005)