The UDA has been blamed for a "terrifying” attack which left two men and a woman in hospital.
They were assaulted at a house in Co Antrim by a gang of five masked-men armed with a crowbar, sledgehammers and baseball bats.
Police said the men entered the property in the Meadow View area of Ballymoney on Monday shortly after 8.30pm and attacked the three victims.
Police launched a significant search operation after the attack. It is understood a police helicopter was over the area within minutes and road checkpoints were put in place.
A PSNI spokesman said the masked men are believed to have made off on foot in the direction of the Carnany Estate.
"Substantial damage was also caused to the inside of the property and a vehicle parked outside the house," he said.
"This was a terrifying experience for the occupants of the property who all required medical treatment for their injuries."
And he added: "Our investigation is now underway to establish what happened, who was involved and a motive."
However, Independent councillor Padraig McShane said loyalist paramilitaries were responsible.
"This attack was the responsibility of the UDA in Ballymoney," he told the Irish News.
"Loyalist sources have indicated to me that they are very concerned about the upscale in violence in north Antrim.
"And they say the violence has nothing to do with politics.
"I would call on the PSNI and the Paramilitary Crime Task Force to take a much more robust course of action to prevent future attacks.
"These attacks are largely perpetrated within their own communities."
DUP councillor Mervyn Storey said the assault had "caused a lot of disquiet and disruption in the Meadow View estate".
"Whatever reason people had for carrying out this attack, there can be absolutely no justification for it," he said.
Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan also condemned the serious assault.
“Such acts of mindless violence have no place in our society. The people involved in this attack need to wise up and let the community here live in peace."
