Police in Albania have fired rubber bullets for the first time since demonstrations began as violent anti-government protests intensified in the capital, Tirana.
The confrontations continued for a fifth consecutive day on Saturday after high school and university students joined a broader movement demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose governing centre-left Socialist Party has held power since 2013.
Demonstrators hurled stones, petrol bombs, and fireworks at police officers near the Prime Minister’s office and across central Tirana, setting cars and rubbish bins alight to construct burning barricades, reports Al Jazeera.
Riot police responded with tear gas, water cannon, baton charges, and rubber bullets as protesters pushed against security lines.
National Police Chief Skender Hita confirmed at a Saturday news conference that officers deployed rubber bullets “in a limited manner.”
Hita said 167 people have been arrested and 132 officers injured over five days of unrest, while seven police officers were suspended pending investigations into allegations that they exceeded their authority.
Albania’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare reported that nine protesters and four police officers received medical treatment on Saturday.
The student unrest stems from widespread anger over high university fees, poor educational facilities, limited employment opportunities, and alleged government corruption.
At the start of Saturday’s demonstration, protesters set fire to a suitcase and threw it into the Ministry of Education’s courtyard to symbolise their determination not to leave Albania in search of better prospects abroad.
“We are demanding our rights, our future and a better country,” said journalism student Sinan Billa.
The student demonstrations have merged with months of anti-government rallies organised by the Flamingo movement.
The movement originally launched as a campaign against a luxury coastal tourism development in southern Albania linked to an investment firm founded by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, before expanding its demands to insist on Prime Minister Rama’s resignation amid corruption allegations.
Prime Minister Rama, who is serving his fourth term and has refused to step down, visited damaged businesses on Saturday.
He promised to listen to student concerns and protect their right to demonstrate while warning against further destruction and accusing conservative political opponents of encouraging the violence.
Unrest has also spread beyond the capital to the coastal city of Durres, where local media reported that demonstrators damaged a post office and set up burning barricades to block roads.
