Two young men were shot dead last night in a suspected drug related feud in Dublin city.

A 16 year old boy was also injured in the shootout but police believe he was an innocent victim.

The two victims were brothers in their 30's, they were travelling together in a car when an assassin sprayed the car with an automatic machine gun on Neilstown Road, Clondalkin, West Dublin.

Police believe the assassin shot the brothers from a passing car. Shortly after the shooting a burnt out car was found a mile from the crime scene.

The dead brothers were named as Kenneth Corbally (35) and Paul Corbally (32) from Ballyfermot.

The 16 year old teenager was travelling in the back seat of the car and was injured in the upper arm and right side. The boy fled the car when the car came to a stop. He then made his way to Tallaght hospital were he was treated for his injuries.

The Corbally's were well known drug dealers and were involved in a feud with a rival drug gang in Ballyfermot. The police previously warned the Corbally's that their lives were in imminent danger.

A total of 14 people have been shot dead in gang related feuds this year. Dublin has seen a marked increase in gangland violence in recent years, the lucrative drugs trade and human trafficking has seen Irish criminals develop adopt a US styled gang system.

According to the Irish Times a police source said, "They had [Corbally's] set themselves up as the main rivals to a significant drug dealer in Ballyfermot and we had become aware of a number of plans to shoot them and they were informed of those threats.”

The Corbally's died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head and the chest.

Police believe an extensive examination of the scene will take some time.

"There were a lot of shots fired so even gathering up any bullet cases will take some time,” said a police source.