A man has been arrested after police came under attack for a second night in south Belfast.
The arrest of the 38-year-old came after the incident in the Broadway area.
Police came under attack with petrol bombs, paint and bottles by a crowd of an estimated 40 young people, described as being in their “early teens”.
A number of roads in the area were closed during the disorder on Tuesday evening.
Members of the public and motorists in the area on Wednesday morning were urged to exercise caution because of rubble on the streets.
Chief Superintendent Jeremy Lindsay, the PSNI’s district commander for Belfast, said no injuries have been reported.
“Once again we are thankful that no police officers or members of the public were injured, however, we must be clear, this disorder, which lasted into the early hours of this morning, is completely unacceptable,” he said.
“We estimate that around 40 people, most of whom were young teens, were involved and I would urge those young people, and their parents or guardians, to really take time to think about what the consequences of this behaviour could be. The implications for your future could be immense.”
He said local officers will continue to patrol the area on Wednesday night, and police will also continue to work alongside partner agencies, local representatives and the community to prevent further disorder and disruption.
“I would encourage local people to report any and all incidents of antisocial behaviour - the more we know, the more we can do to support people and take positive action. Please call us on 101 or 999 in an emergency,” he added.
The Police Federation, which represents ranks-and-file officers, condemned the attacks on police.
Chairman Liam Kelly said: “This behaviour that we have seen over two nights in the Village-Broadway area is wholly destructive and pointless.
“People living in the immediate area of this disorder have had their lives turned upside down with damage caused to properties.
“Thankfully, our officers have escaped injury in these vicious attacks. They have succeeded in holding the line and restoring peace to this area.
“There is no excuse for the violent scenes we have witnessed or the wilful and mindless targeting of officers who are doing their best to protect the entire community.
“This street disorder has to stop. Nothing can be gained by rival groups inflicting such upheaval on families living in this area.
“Our officers will continue to maintain the rule of law and conduct professional policing operations until the gangs engaged in this street violence desist.”
The area was the scene of disorder on Monday night, with up to 50 youths involved, and police who arrived at the scene came under attack from paint and petrol bombs.
Damage was also caused to police vehicles.
Giving an update on Tuesday evening, a PSNI spokesperson said: “Police have closed a number of roads in the south Belfast area this evening, Tuesday 16th July, due to continuing disorder.
“The Westlink onto Broadway Roundabout country bound has been closed to traffic.
A number of police cars as well as cars belonging to members of the public were damaged during the disorder at the nearby Broadway Roundabout on Monday night.
South Belfast DUP MLA Edwin Poots said tensions in the area have been high for months between young people coming from the west Belfast side of the junction and those from the south Belfast side “hand to hand fighting” and throwing missiles close to a busy road.
He has called for intervention from Belfast City Council and other organisations to create diversionary schemes.
Mr Poots said the situation in the area has been “ongoing from October last year” but had been “taken to a different level” on Monday.
“Week after week the local people are having to put up with this nonsense and it is grossly unfair on the residents that are living in the nearby area,” he told the BBC.
“Ultimately something is going to have to be done (to reduce tensions in the area) because someone is going to get seriously injured.
“This is a policing matter and the police will have to deal with it but there are a number of things that can be done, community diversionary work is critically important and perhaps this particular area is not as well resourced in that as some of the other areas in Belfast, and council and others have missed the ball in that, having something to take these youths away from the area would have been beneficial.
“We have known about this and we’ve been pressing and urging for more action to be taken for many months now.”
He added: “Someone is going to get seriously injured, that’s a busy road, people are hand to hand fighting, they’re throwing missiles, a member of the public could get hurt, a vehicle could hit one of these young people, so really we need to clamp down on it and get it stopped.”
Sinn Fein MP for west Belfast Paul Maskey said: “Scenes of disorder and anti-social behaviour in the Broadway area over recent days are deeply concerning, and totally unacceptable.
“This reckless activity is not representative of this city and is in stark contrast to the hugely positive work that is being done to continue the positive transformation of Belfast.
“I would appeal for calm in the area and urge young people not to get caught up in this type of activity which could have a really detrimental impact on their future and lead to a criminal record.”
