The UVF is suspected to be behind a hoax bomb that is believed to have been targeted at Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney.
Mr Coveney was giving a speech at a peace and reconciliation event in north Belfast when he was ushered from the room.
The event organised by John and Pat Hume ended with the Houben Centre on the Crumlin Road and a funeral service nearby being disrupted.
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PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan said the driver of a van was approached by two gunmen and was forced to drive a device he believed to be a live bomb to Holy Cross Church.
More than 25 homes were evacuated, with local schools and a funeral also being disrupted as a result of the hoax.
Mr McEwan said: “This morning, some time between 9am and 10am, a van was hijacked in Sydney Street West off the Shankill Road, Belfast,” he said.
“The van driver was threatened by two gunmen and forced to drive his white Vauxhall van a short distance to another street and a device was then placed in the van.
“The victim was then forced to drive the van to Holy Cross chapel.
“Just think about this, the victim believed at this point he was driving a van containing a live bomb and that his family were being threatened.
“The local community were also impacted. Over 25 homes were evacuated, local schools were affected, and vulnerable residents in a local nursing home had to be moved to another part of their home.
“Most shamefully, a funeral taking place in the chapel was also disrupted, causing further grief to that family.
“This evening, upon further examination, the device has been declared a hoax. It was clearly designed to cause maximum disruption to the local community.
“At this early stage of the investigation, our assessment is that these crimes were carried out by loyalist paramilitary groups.
“We’re keeping an open mind, but one of the primary lines of investigation is the UVF.”
Mr McEwan also issued an appeal for information and asked that anyone with any information about the event, gunmen or movements of the van come forward to police.
Asked whether Mr Coveney had been the target of the incident, Mr McEwan said he would not speculate on motivation at a very early stage of the investigation.
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