More than 300 injured as Tirana protests turn violent in fiercest clashes in days

More than 300 protesters and police were injured in Tirana on Saturday as student-led anti-government protests escalated again, with police firing tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse crowds, authorities said (Al Jazeera).

Thousands of people gathered in central Tirana on Saturday 24 October, demanding better support for education and the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, in what Al Jazeera described as the capital’s fiercest clashes in days. Several government buildings were attacked and dozens of demonstrators were arrested.

Protesters gathered at about 2 p.m. local time in front of the education ministry and threw stones and rocks at police, Reuters reported, and a fire was started at the door of the agriculture ministry (Reuters). Some in the crowd threw stones and rolled burning bins at the education ministry building, and police pushed the crowds back to several locations across the city.

The demonstrations are fuelled by anger over perceived government corruption, a lack of jobs and poor education standards, Reuters reported, and by poor conditions in schools and the cost of living, according to Al Jazeera. Protesters have called for Rama, who has governed since 2013 and won a fourth term last year, to resign.

“Albanians have woken up,” 28-year-old protester Daniel Tahiri told Reuters, describing the government as a “dictatorship with the clothes of democracy.” Another protester, 29-year-old Orgeta Likaj, said people wanted Rama to know that Albanians no longer want him because of corruption and scandals.

Rama has blamed “foreign actors” for the violence and accused Russia and Iran of driving online misinformation, Al Jazeera reported, and has called for dialogue. Red cushions were laid outside government headquarters on Saturday as a symbolic gesture for talks; protesters later set the cushions on fire.

The protests began in mid-October and follow intermittent anti-government demonstrations since May, when news emerged of a luxury hotel project linked to the family of United States President Donald Trump.