Tirana businesses targeted again: Windows smashed at a bank and a mobile phone store, kiosk burned

Businesses in Tirana again suffered damage Saturday during the 12th protest in the capital. According to Top Channel and ATSH (the Albanian Telegraphic Agency), protesters marching along Kavaja Street smashed the windows of a commercial bank and wrecked its ATM. The bank was not named.

Later, on “Vasil Shanto” Street, the glass storefront of a mobile operator’s shop was struck. According to ATSH, metal barriers and iron bars were used to break the window, and the group immediately left the scene.

Kiosk in flames, trash bins as barricades

In the city center, protesters set fire to a kiosk near the Bank of Albania, next to a bus stop. On several streets, including Durrës Street, trash bins were set alight and dragged into the middle of the road to block traffic, while iron barriers were pulled from the sidewalks.

ATSH also reported that bottles of gasoline were thrown at the Ministry of Agriculture and Tirana City Hall, where the main entrances caught fire, but firefighters brought the situation under control.

The cost for business

The State Police said violence and damage to public and private property are “unacceptable” and punishable by law, and urged protesters to distance themselves from masked individuals.

The new damage comes a few days after a meeting at the Bank of Albania on Oct. 21, where it was reported that 45 bank branches and 53 ATMs had been damaged in earlier protests. No tally of Saturday’s damage had been made public by the evening.