Germany killings 'unprecedented escalation of mafia feud'

The execution-style killings of six Italians in Germany marks an unprecedented escalation of the operations of southern Italy’s ’ndrangheta crime syndicate, exporting a vendetta abroad for the first time, Italian officials said today.

Interior Minister Giuliano Amato said the killings were the latest chapter in a feud between rival clans of the ’ndragheta organisation based in the tiny Calabrian town of San Luca.