Dozens of police injured in Northern Ireland clashes

Dozens of police officers were injured overnight trying to keep Catholics and Protestants apart in troubled Belfast, Northern Ireland, police said Monday.

At least 47 officers were hurt, and four of them had to be sent to hospitals with injuries to the head, legs and chest, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said.

Police were attacked with "fireworks, petrol bombs, masonry and lasers," and responded with water cannons, they said.

It was the largest number of police officers hurt in a single disturbance in recent memory.

The violence came as Protestants who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom clashed with Catholics who want the province to become part of the Republic of Ireland.