Naples Mayor Rosa Russo Jervolino on Wednesday warned of an escalating mob crisis in the area, after two men were gunned down in separate incidents in the space of 12 hours.
Speaking ahead of an emergency meeting with security forces, she said urgent action was needed to tackle clan violence, which appeared to be worsening despite three police round-ups in the last few days.
"This is a dramatic situation, the like of which we haven't seen in several months," said the mayor.
"Experience has shown that the lull [in violence] of recent months does not mean we have defeated the problem of organized crime, merely that rival clans are in the process of regrouping".
The latest incidents were even more alarming than usual, she added.
While mob violence has typically occurred in quieter neighbourhoods with broad thoroughfares - meaning only those directly targeted are usually hit - these shootings both "took place in densely populated areas and at times when the streets were crowded", she said.
The first victim was killed early Tuesday evening in the northern quarter of Sanita after two men on a motorcycle opened fire before driving off.
Alfonso Uccello, 35, was talking to two friends at the time, both of whom were also injured in the attack.
The second victim was killed in a drive-by shooting in the industrial area of Sant'Antimo north of Naples during the Wednesday morning rush hour.
Antonio Guiscardo, 22, had a criminal record for drug dealing, while Uccello had a police record for property fraud.
Including these latest deaths, Naples province has seen 31 murders committed by warring clans since the start of the year.
Another man was killed and his wife wounded in an attack five days ago, while there have been three Camorra-linked homicides in the northeast Naples suburb of Secondigliano this month.
POLICE CRACKDOWNS FAIL TO STEM VIOLENCE.
The violence continues to escalate, despite three major police operations this month.
On Tuesday, police arrested one of Italy's most wanted Camorra bosses who had been on the run for a year.
Vincenzo Di Lauro is believed to be the new kingpin of the Di Lauro faction of the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia, which is based in Secondigliano.
Police say the recent homicides there are part of a blood feud that began when a Di Lauro splinter group rebelled against the main clan.
A separate operation against the Camorra, also on Tuesday, resulted in the capture of 13 suspected mafiosi in Naples, Caserta to the south of the city, and Rome.
The 13 - alleged members of the Sarno, Piscopo, De Sena and Di Grazia clans - are accused of homicide, drug trafficking and illegal arms possession.
Last week, it was the turn of the Giuliano and Mazzarella clans, the Camorra's two top drug factions, who saw 170 suspected members arrested in a massive police swoop.
In some cases whole families were detained in raids carried out by around 1,000 officers in Naples and the surrounding province.
The Camorra has been in the media spotlight over the past 12 months due to a sharp rise in the number of clan-linked murders in Naples and the surrounding province.
More than 75 Camorra-related killings were reported in 2006.
The crime surge led the government to take emergency action, with over 1,000 police and other law-and-order officials sent to boost the 13,250-strong local police force.
Last autumn there were even calls for the army to be sent in to bring the situation under control.
These calls resurfaced after the three Secondigliano murders.
But the interior ministry rejected the idea, saying instead that 120 extra patrols would be deployed in the city's most crime-ridden areas.
