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Page last updated at 17:37 GMT, Friday, 19 September 2008 18:37 UK

Riot after Africans shot in Italy

Police inspect the scene of one of the shootings in Caserta. Photo: 18 September 2008
Police are investigating whether the two shootings were linked

Immigrants in a southern Italian town have rioted after six Africans were killed in a suspected mafia attack outside a shop.

People smashed windows and threw rocks in Castelvolturno, north-west of the city of Naples.

The six men from Ghana, Liberia and Togo were shot dead late on Thursday.

Police say the attack may be linked to a row between the Casalesi clan of the regional Camorra mafia and immigrants involved in drug-trafficking.

Two other men were injured in the shooting.

Television footage showed men wielding metal bars and forcing traffic to stop on Friday.

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In a separate incident in Castelvolturno, a man, believed to be an Italian national, was gunned down near a local games hall.

Police are now investigating if the two shootings were linked.

They say the murders may be connected to drugs-trafficking in the town, where African immigrants have recently begun dealing autonomously, the Italian news agency Ansa says.

The Casalesi clan - one of the most feared groups in the Camorra - is believed to control drug-trafficking and prostitution in the region.


SEE ALSO
Mafia blamed for Italy killings
19 Sep 08 |  Europe


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