An Irish drug boss has survived an assassination attempt in Spain. Peter "Fatso" Mitchell and two other men received bullet wounds as they sat drinking beer on the pub terrace near the Costa del Sol resort of Puerto Banus. Four shots were fired by a masked gunman, two of which hit 39-year-old Mitchell in the shoulder and arm.

He was last night recovering in hospital. Spanish authorities said his injuries were not life threatening. The shooting happened around 11.40pm on Thursday night outside the El Jardin bar in the Aloha Gardens complex, a popular tourist area in the upmarket residential suburb of Nueva Andalucia.

The two other men shot -- aged 45 and 73 -- received flesh wounds to the arm and leg respectively. Both have already been discharged from hospital.

Local reports said that the two other victims were Irish nationals. However, Spanish authorities refused to confirm this last night.

Spanish authorities said a gunman wearing a balaclava fired the shots after running up to where Mitchell was sitting. He then jumped into a white getaway car, which sped away from the scene and was later discovered abandoned a short distance away.

The identities of the other two injured men were unknown last night. However, Spanish officials described them as innocent holidaymakers who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Mitchell, originally from Summerhill in Dublin's north inner city, is a former lieutenant of jailed drug baron John Gilligan. He fled Ireland in 1996 amid the unprecedented garda crackdown following the assassination of journalist Veronica Guerin.

Mitchell was a close friend of another Gilligan gang member, Brian Meehan, who is the only man to have been convicted of Guerin's murder.

The Republic's Special Criminal Court, which jailed Gilligan for 20 years for drug trafficking, heard evidence that Mitchell was part of a gang which imported vast amounts of cannabis into the country. Detectives believe Mitchell remained heavily involved in drugs rackets after fleeing to Spain.

He had also been running the Paparazzi bar in Puerto Banus until it closed earlier this year after failing to secure a music licence. One witness, Sara Lopez (23), said: "I heard four pops like fire crackers and the next minute I heard screaming and looked up to see an old white car racing away from the scene.

"A man was lying on the floor of the terrace outside the bar and writhing around in agony with blood coming from his shoulder as the first of the police cars turned up." All three shooting victims were rushed to the Costa del Sol Hospital in nearby Marbella. Spanish police said the elite Malaga-based Anti-Drug and Organised Crime Unit were assisting local officers in the investigation.

Recent reports said Mitchell was selling his €1.2m villa in Puerto Banus following the closure of his pub and a falling out with associates. His bar had been frequented by Dublin hitman Paddy Doyle, who was himself shot dead in the nearby Costa del Sol town of Cancelada near Estepona in February.

Doyle, who was originally from Dublin, died after he and his friend Gary Hutch were ambushed in his 4x4 outside an apartment complex. Hutch survived the shooting.

Nueva Andalucia is a residential area behind the upmarket Puerto Banus port where thousands of Irish and British expats and holidaymakers party every summer alongside multi-million-euro yachts and expensive sports cars. High-profile summer residents include British PR guru Max Clifford.

The area is also home to a string of golf courses, a casino and a bullring.

But Irish, British and eastern European criminals behind shady drugs deals and prostitution also frequent its bars and restaurants. And the street where Thursday's shooting happened has been the scene of several violent shootings in recent years.