A TEENAGER has been shot in both legs in a paramilitary-style shooting in west Belfast.
The 16-year-old was attacked in Aitnamona Crescent at around 8.50pm on Sunday.
He was treated in hospital for his injuries which are not believed to be life threatening.
Chief Inspector Norman Hanslet said: "To shoot anyone is bad enough but this is blatant child abuse and there should be no place for the shooting of a child in today's society.
"I know that the local community abhor this type of behaviour and I would ask people to support and assist police to bring these people to justice."
The attack was condemned by elected representatives across the political spectrum.
Sinn Féin West Belfast MP Paul Maskey said that those responsible were "at war with the community".
"There can be no place for this type of activity and those responsible for shooting a young teenage boy have absolutely nothing to offer our society."
SDLP West Belfast assembly member Alex Attwood said that "at a time of the year which is all about children and younger people, this serves to highlight its brutality".
"The regularity of these shootings and assaults should compel people to help the police and identify the perpetrators," he added.
Ulster Unionist MLA and justice spokesman Doug Beattie said the attack was "nothing less than child abuse".
"Had this boy been shot by the army, the police or loyalists, then there would be a huge outcry. The fact he was shot by people from the republican community does not lessen the impact of this crime.
"It is a tragic reality of life in too many areas of Northern Ireland that such so-called paramilitary style shootings are still a relatively common occurrence and it is all too easy for society to somehow become almost de-sensitised to them."
