A RESTORATIVE justice group said it will be "in contact" with parents of up to 15 youths who attacked two teenagers in a sectarian attack after they entered a nationalist area of east Belfast.
Police said the pair were with two friends who were "chased and assaulted" by the larger group of teenagers in the Market area close to Lanyon Place Station on East Bridge Street at around 6pm on Saturday.
A spokesman said two of the boys "suffered facial injuries" and officers are "treating the incident as a sectarian hate crime".
They appealed for "witnesses, or anyone who has information to contact.
The Market Development Association sent a message of "solidarity" to the injured youths.
Established in1995 to `develop the Market community into one where people want to live, work and socialise', a spokesman said the violence had no place in the area.
"A young person from outside the area was attacked by local youths," he said in a Facebook post.
"This is totally unacceptable and in no way reflects the majority of young people in our community.
"The parents of those involved need to take responsibility for their teenagers.
"There is no place for this behaviour and as a community we don't want incidents like this occurring again.
"We want to express our solidarity to the young person who was assaulted and his family and hope he makes a full recovery."
Community Restorative Justice South and East Belfast said a co-ordinator is "following up on an assault on a young person outside Central [Lanyon Place] station" and "will be in contact with some of the perpetrators parents".
The group said it will "will work with any young person and refer them to further outreach support if they wish to engage and move away from this negative behaviour".
SDLP councillor Gary McKeown insisted such scenes are uncommon in the housing enclave which is close to the city centre.
""I condemn this incident which I'm sure was very frightening for the victims. People of all ages should be able to go about their business without fear of being attacked," he said.
"Thankfully this behaviour isn't representative of the vast majority of young people from the area, but I would urge parents to know where their children are, particularly during the dark evenings.
"The last thing the community wants is a repeat of this incident."
