Police have fired plastic bullets and received reinforcements from Great Britain in an effort to contain race riots in Northern Ireland.

The force has fired 17 of the projectiles since disturbances erupted on Tuesday, pitting officers against crowds that have thrown rocks, petrol bombs and other missiles.

The disclosure on Thursday came amid further condemnation of violence that has targeted minority ethnic people after dissemination of a graphic video of a knife attack in north Belfast on Monday night.

The condition of the victim of the attack was said to be improving and that he could be released from an induced coma within the next 48 hours.

Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary of state, told Sky News: “If you are targeting people on the basis of the colour of their skin, how else can you describe them? That is racist thuggery, there’s no question about it at all.”

Two hundred additional officers from Great Britain are to reinforce the Police Service of Northern Ireland, which is bracing for a potential third consecutive night of unrest. Twelve officers have been injured and 16 people have been arrested. Police have also released images of two males wanted for questioning.

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland welcomed the reinforcements but said chronic under-resourcing had left the PSNI 1,200 short of 7,500 promised officers. Liam Kelly, the federation’s chair, expressed hope that those convicted of rioting would receive maximum sentences. “Violent racist and fascist lawbreakers offer nothing but hopelessness and mindless thuggery.”

A 24-year-old woman has been charged with disorderly behaviour and possession of an article with intent to do damage; and a 28-year-old man has been charged with failing to remove a disguise when requested, obstructing police and resisting police, police said. Both were due to appear at Lisburn magistrates court on Thursday.

The police ombudsman confirmed reports that officers had fired plastic bullets. “We have been notified by police that ‘attenuating energy projectiles’ have been used 17 times,” the watchdog said on Thursday. “Each incident will now be assessed by Police Ombudsman investigators.”

The confirmation came after reporters discovered plastic bullet casings amid debris near the Sandyknowes roundabout in Newtownabbey, the scene of intense clashes on Wednesday night when police also used water cannon to disperse rioters.

Patrick Corrigan, the Northern Ireland programme director of Amnesty International, said police had an unenviable task in restoring order but expressed concern at the use of plastic bullets. He said: “With so many children on the streets, and the risk of serious injury via direct hit or ricochet, there is a significant risk in their use in current circumstances.”

Further reports emerged of intimidation against immigrants and minority ethnic families.

The South Eastern Trust said four masked men had chased a nurse on her way to work. “We utterly condemn this racist attack. This nurse bravely insisted on remaining in the hospital to care for the most vulnerable in our community. Her behaviour is in stark contrast to the behaviour of the people who terrified her as she tried to do her job.”

The British Medical Association said it had also received reports of healthcare workers being stopped and asked to prove they were medical staff while travelling to hospitals, while some doctors had chosen to remain in hospitals overnight because they felt safer there than travelling home.

Dr Alan Stout, the chair of the BMA’s Northern Ireland council, said he had not heard of doctors being physically attacked but warned that the risk was “undoubtedly there”. He said he was “horrified” by social media misinformation, including a post that wrongly identified a doctor as carrying a knife.

Stout said doctors across Northern Ireland felt “disgust” at the targeted attacks on immigrant and minority ethnic communities, and stood in “solidarity with all of the people affected, particularly in the healthcare sector, who we massively rely on and who do a quite phenomenal job”.

He warned that the disorder could have lasting consequences for the recruitment and retention of international healthcare workers in a health service already facing workforce shortages. “We cannot be losing doctors at a time that we need to be attracting more,” he said.

Lists that purportedly reveal names and addresses of foreigners have circulated on social media. At least one property management company has contacted tenants that are on a list and advised them to keep the homes safe and secure, the Irish News reported.

The case of Hadi Alodid, the 30-year-old Sudanese man charged with attempting to murder Stephen Ogilvie on Monday night, continued to stir political debate.

Alodid, who travelled from Sudan to Paris and then Dublin before taking a bus to Belfast in 2023, was granted asylum under a fast-track application scheme, with no interview, and given five years leave to remain in the UK until 2028.

Benn said the previous Conservative government had put the system in place and that asylum seekers were now interviewed in “almost all cases”.

Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, told LBC Radio: “I wasn’t leader at the time; I also wasn’t in the Home Office at the time. All I can do is apologise to people.”

She said the home secretary at the time, Suella Braverman, and the immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, had both since defected to Reform UK.