Craig McCausland died in hospital after being shot in this house

Craig McCausland died in hospital after being shot in Dhu Varren Park in north Belfast early on Monday morning.

His partner - aged in her 20s - and her two children, aged nine and six, were in the house at the time.

Police believe his killers got out of a silver old style Peugeot 405, registration number IBZ 7522, before smashing their way into their home.

They left in the same car which was later found burning in Cupar Street.

A police spokesman appealed for anyone who noticed any suspicious activity in the area to contact them.

Earlier, police said the murder, another shooting and a possible murder attempt were linked to tensions between the UVF and LVF.

The other man was shot several times as he walked two dogs on the Crumlin Road near Glenbank just before midnight on Sunday.

A short time after the killing, in nearby Woodvale Pass, a man escaped another apparent murder bid by jumping out the window of a house as a number of masked men were attempting to smash their way into it.

Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde has said police were working to counter the feud.

He said an increased security presence had stopped violence in affected areas and loyalist murders were at their lowest level for "many, many years".

"We are fixing the problem, but we can only do so much," he said, adding the public must give them information.

Loyalist sources have said neither victim was a member of a paramilitary group.

Earlier this month, loyalist paramilitaries were blamed for the murder of a man shot dead as he drove a lorry in east Belfast.