A senior politician in Northern Ireland has called for calm after a knife attack, believed to have been carried out by a Sudanese man, was filmed and shared online.
A man in his 30s has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after the assault on Monday night. The incident left the victim with significant injuries to his face, neck and back, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said.
The force has launched a “critical incident” in response to the attack. Footage circulating on social media appears to show a man stabbing the victim’s head and neck as he lay on the ground.
In the video, several people, including one with an Irish sports stick, intervene to stop the man attacking the victim in a residential area close to the busy Antrim Road in north Belfast.
The incident has prompted widespread condemnation and expressions of concern across the political spectrum in Northern Ireland and beyond.
The leaders of the main political parties in Northern Ireland issued a joint statement condemning the “horrific” stabbing of a man in Belfast.
In the statement, Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill, DUP leader Gavin Robinson, Alliance leader Naomi Long, UUP leader Jon Burrows and SDLP leader Claire Hanna said they were “united in our condemnation of the horrific incident in North Belfast last night”.
“There is no place in our society for this kind of brutality," they added. “We recognise the distress and fear this incident will cause within the local community. We urge people not to share the deeply disturbing images or videos, as their graphic nature would only serve to re-traumatise those involved.”
Emma Little-Pengelly, Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, said it was vital for the police to provide “clear and open communication as this situation develops”. She added: “I urge calm in what is clearly a tense and worrying situation.”
However, Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing populist Reform UK party, called on the authorities to disclose the identity and immigration status of the suspect immediately. “The public are entitled to the truth," he said.
Condemning the incident, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “The horrific attack in Belfast last night is sickening. I have absolutely no tolerance for abhorrent scenes of violence like this on our streets.”
PSNI assistant chief constable Ryan Henderson said an investigation was under way to establish a motive for the attack that “will have sent shockwaves through the community, causing real concern”.
“I want to reassure the local community that we are treating this attack with the utmost seriousness,” he added.
Police initially said the suspect was Somali, before issuing an update to say he is Sudanese.
The attack comes amid anger in the UK over the murder of Henry Nowak, who was handcuffed by officers after he had been stabbed by a Sikh with a ceremonial blade. Video showed officers first assumed Mr Nowak was a suspect after his attacker, Vickrum Digwa, falsely claimed the 18-year-old had attacked and racially abused him.
Eleven officers were injured during protests last week at the scene of Mr Nowak’s death in Southampton.
Mr Farage said people should react with “pure cold rage” to the way police dealt with that incident. The Reform leader previously said the police’s failure to disclose such information about the killer of three schoolgirls in Southport in 2024, Axel Rudakubana, led to riots. The attack led to the false claims spreading online that the UK-born attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker.
