Hundreds of protesters, many with their faces covered, clashed with police and set vehicles ablaze at several locations across Northern Ireland after a video of the stabbing, which left a man seriously injured, circulated widely online.
Several homes were seen burning during the unrest, Britain's public broadcaster the BBC reported. Footage showed police helping a family escape from a house engulfed in flames.
"There can be no excuse and no justification for these attacks," Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill said in a statement. "Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice."
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the stabbing, which occurred in north Belfast late on Monday, as "sickening," Reuters reported.
The unrest comes amid heightened tensions over immigration in Britain and follows a series of protests over asylum policy and recent violence in Southampton over the murder of a student of Polish descent, Henry Nowak, who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying from stab wounds after his killer, a Sikh man, falsely alleged a racist attack.
Northern Ireland also experienced anti-immigrant rioting last year following public anger over an alleged sexual assault, according to reports.
The suspect, a 30-year-old Sudanese national, was charged on Tuesday with attempted murder and other offences. He was due to appear in a Belfast court on Wednesday.
The victim, a man in his 40s, suffered serious eye injuries and slash wounds to his face and back in what police described as a "brutal" attack. A kitchen knife was recovered at the scene, the BBC reported.
Video footage showed members of the public attempting to stop the attacker before police arrived. Senior officers credited their intervention with helping save the victim's life.
Northern Ireland's main political leaders jointly condemned both the stabbing and the subsequent violence, while urging calm and warning that the disorder would only harm local communities, Reuters reported.
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Source: Reuters, BBC