The periods immediately before and after partition were marked by major sectarian violence in Belfast as some areas more dominated by one of the two communities. While occurring simultaneously with the Irish War of Independence, the unrest in Northern Ireland had an identity all of its own, with much of the violence happening independently of events in the South. Unlike the rest of Ireland, where the war was largely fought between the IRA and Crown forces, around 90% of the 465 deaths in Belfast were civilian on civilian. Violence occurred in the form sectarian assassinations and reprisals on random victims. Open, armed clashes between Catholic and Protestants often occurred in the city streets. This particular round of conflict originated in Derry in June 1920 when Catholics burned Protestant homes in the Bogside area of the city after Protestants burned Catholic homes in the Waterside. The Ulster Volunteer Force was revamped to respond to the threat using machine guns to fire randomly into the Catholic Bogside, resulting in several deaths.