Three dead in mob attacks

Gunmen shot two men in a smoke shop and a third while he read a newspaper in his car in separate attacks today in neighbouring towns, as a crime clan's turf war continues to bloody the Naples area, state TV said.

In another attack, two men were shot dead last night in an car repair shop, bringing the death toll linked to the clan warfare to five in less than 24 hours.

The crime war involves the Di Lauro clan of the Camorra, the Naples-area syndicate which runs drug and weapons trafficking, extortion rackets, illegal betting and prostitution.

Investigators say breakaway clan members are battling to gain control of drug operations.

One of today's victims was reading in his car on a quiet street near Secondigliano when two gunmen approached, fired shots, hustled the man into their car and drove off. The car was found shortly after, charred, and with the man's body, burned inside.

In the smoke shop attack, in the nearby town of Melito, one victim died instantly and the other died of his wounds before he could be taken to a hospital.

A week earlier, the crime war's victims included a man was shot to death as he ate in a pizzeria, and three men whose bullet ridden bodies were found in a parked car.

In the 1980s, a Camorra turf war claimed 700 lives before calm returned.

Since the start of this year, 113 killings have bloodied the Naples area, many of them blamed on organised crime.