A FATAL shooting at a gang-linked tattoo parlour may spark a full-scale war between feuding Hells Angels and Bandidos bikies, police believe.

A 40-year-old tattooist died in hospital yesterday after being shot in the shoulder by two masked men who stormed the Pretty In Ink Tattoo Studio in West Ryde, northwest of Sydney on Saturday night, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Tensions between the gangs exploded last month when 55 Bandidos, including the whole Parramatta chapter, defected to the Hells Angels, making them the state's third largest club.

The studio where the latest shooting took place is believed to be linked to the Hells Angels.

It is understood a staff member was in the rear of the business when two men armed with a gun forced their way in at 9.30pm.

Witnesses said there was an altercation between the gunmen and several staff members before one of the masked bandits fired a shot at the victim from close range, hitting him in the shoulder. Other staff members and customers escaped uninjured.

Paramedics treated the victim at the scene before rushing him to Royal North Shore Hospital.

Police believe the shooting was linked to an attack on another Hells Angels-linked parlour, Tattoo World at Baulkham Hills, early on Friday.

"It is difficult to say ... if it is the same two people involved in each incident, but it's something significant we will look at," police said.

The news comes as West Australian police voice their own fears of the Bandidos launching a foray into the state.

Police sources this week told The Sunday Times there was a real possibility the Bandidos could infiltrate the state, given their close ties to fledgling gang the Rock Machine.

Detectives are intently monitoring interaction between the two gangs.

Anti-narcotics activists supplementing security agencies’ efforts to combat illicit drug trafficking are anxious over their safety.

Those from Mombasa and Kilifi counties have expressed fears for their lives and appealed to Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere and Internal Security minister George Saitoti to urgently address their concerns.

The group’s concerns come in the wake of an aborted gun attack last Sunday involving a Mombasa Island based anti-narcotics activist and family.

Sheikh Mohammed Khalifa of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) said the family was returning from a wedding party when they noticed a saloon car trailing them on Mbaraki Road.

“His wife and their elder daughter saw a man pointing a gun through the car’s window,” he said.

Coast Provincial Police Officer Aggrey Adoli said investigations were going on.

“We are taking the issue seriously and investigations are ongoing. My team is piecing together critical information,” he said.

The incident took place just days before heroin worth Sh392 million was found at an apartment in Shanzu, Mombasa, on Thursday night.

Six suspects have since been arrested in connection with the haul.

Mr Adoli said the frightened activist only managed to take note of part of the car’s registration number.

He told the activists that their security concerns were being taken seriously.

He also denied reports that drug barons and traffickers were arming themselves in a bid to protect their trade.

Mr Adoli said the government had the resources to ensure the anti-narcotics police squad succeeds in its mission.

Islamic militants have seized control of a weapons factory,

Islamic militants have seized control of a weapons factory, a strategic mountain and a nearby town in the southern Yemen province of Abyan as a political stalemate in the capital causes security to unravel around the country.
The fragile nation has been rocked by weeks of mass protests against the long-serving president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who refuses to step down.
Saleh's fate is of deep concern to the US as he is a key ally in the fight against al Qaida, but with his attention on massive anti-government protests in the capital, security has declined in the provinces.
Residents of the southern Abyan province said police reduced their presence in towns weeks ago. Elsewhere, residents have pushed out police and soldiers and set up their own local militias for self defence.
In the areas they took over, the militants set up checkpoints around the small factory and in the town of al-Husn, patrolling the streets and searching cars.
They also seized control of a nearby Khanfar mountain that holds a radio station and a presidential guest house, said Ali Dahmash, an expert on Islamic militant groups who lives nearby.
Residents in the nearby town of Jaar, which was seized by the militants yesterday, said they heard gunfire, but the scope of the battle wasn't immediately clear.
The area lies close to the southern port town of Aden.
In another province of Yemen, security officials say suspected al Qaida gunmen killed seven soldiers and wounded seven others in an attack on a military post. The attack took place at Ubaida area in the central Marib province, another province where the militant group is active and only under nominal government control.
Al Qaida has seized control of towns in southern Yemen b