13th protest ends with Molotov cocktails in Skanderbeg Square: Parliament windows smashed, businesses hit

The 13th day of the student protest in Tirana ended on Sunday evening with clashes with police and Molotov cocktails in Skanderbeg Square. The protest, which according to ATSH (the Albanian Telegraphic Agency) was joined by citizens and masked minors, lasted about six hours and moved from the Ministry of Education to the Prime Minister's Office and then to the central square. It began a few hours after the government announced its package of measures against urban violence.

Molotovs, nails and broken glass

Outside the Prime Minister's Office, masked people smashed street lights with iron bars and threw stones and firecrackers at the building and at officers. Near Skanderbeg Square, protesters hurled Molotov cocktails at police, set fire to a tree in a flowerbed and laid nails to puncture the tires of police vehicles that might enter the square.

During the protest, the Parliament Presidium building was also attacked and its windows smashed, while several businesses on the ground floor of the “Twin Towers” were damaged, including a commercial bank. After repeated calls to distance themselves from violence, police dispersed the crowd with water cannon and tear gas.

Four injured in hospital

The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said a total of three people injured in the protest arrived at the University Trauma Hospital. As of 19:00, one protester had been admitted, while another protester and a police officer received the necessary care and left. Another officer went to the “Mother Teresa” University Hospital Center, where he was undergoing examinations.

By the end of the day, police had not released the number of people detained or arrested at this protest. The student protests, which began on Oct. 13, are demanding the resignation of Edi Rama's government.