Tirana (Albania) (AFP) – Albanian police fired water cannon and tear gas Sunday as violent anti-government protests entered a sixth day and Prime Minister Edi Rama rejected demonstrators demands that he resign.
Violent demonstrations have rocked Tirana since Tuesday with protesters calling for action over poor university conditions, high tuition fees and corruption.
Hundreds of protesters gathered again at noon in front of the education ministry chanting "Rama, resign" amid a tense standoff with police.
After police bid to disperse the crowds the protests scattered across the city centre, escalating in hours-long violent clashes.
Protesters set ablaze litter bins in the streets, smashed windows, including at the headquarters of the governing Socialist party, and set fire to a police station and the entrance of the interior ministry.
Chaotic clashes extended to main boulevard and square with demonstrators throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails and charging pyrotechnic devices, as the police responded with rubber bullets and tear gas, according to an AFP journalist.
Ambulances were seen rushing in and out of the scenes of clashes to pick up the injured.
The ministry of Health told AFP that 16 police officers were injured -- 14 of them when protesters attacked the police station.
Before the protest, shops and offices in the city centre secured their doors and windows with metal shutters, while city workers removed paving stones to prevent them being thrown by protesters.
In a video broadcast lasting more than an hour, Rama ruled out resigning, stating that the protests are the "work of an outside hand".
According to Austrian federal press service Rama’s official visit to Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker scheduled for Monday, has been cancelled by the Albanian side.
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