TIRANA: Albania’s capital saw violent clashes for a fifth straight day on Saturday as police fired rubber bullets on protesters demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, who pledged to listen to their concerns.
Violent demonstrations have rocked Tirana since Tuesday, with thousands of protesters calling for Rama to step down as they complain about university conditions and high tuition fees.
Protesters threw rocks, molotov cocktails, metal objects and pyrotechnic devices at police, and torched cars and litter bins, using them as blazing barricades to stop police advancing. Journalists on the ground saw that for the first time during the protests, police used rubber bullets against the demonstrators.
Officers also used water cannon, pepper spray and tear gas against the crowd, leaving the streets of Tirana shrouded in thick smoke. Paula, who together with other young people set up a provisional first-aid station in a lawyer’s office, said three people had been treated for head, eye and leg injuries allegedly from rubber bullets. Albanian law allows the police to use rubber bullets during protests only in extreme cases.
The health ministry said in a press release that nine protesters and four police officers received medical treatment. “Today, for the first time since the protests began, the police used rubber bullets — an extreme measure, considering that there are minors aged 16 to 17 among the protesters,” sport student Redi Taku said.
Director of the state police, Skender Hita, in a press conference said that “rubber bullets were used in a limited manner”. “All the means used have been used in a limited manner and only certified equipment is used, which is allowed for such cases in European Union countries”, he said.
During the week’s protests 167 people were arrested while criminal proceedings were initiated against 388, he said. Seven police officers were suspended and are under disciplinary investigation for overstepping their authority.
He added that over the five days of protests 132 officers primarily in Tirana have sustained injuries and called “those committing these acts of violence to cease their illegal activities immediately”.
At the beginning of the protest demonstrators set a suitcase on fire and threw it in the education ministry courtyard — symbolically showing they do not want to leave Albania. Journalism student Sinan Billa said the protest was “a reaction to express discontent at the silence of our government.” “Young people have awoken for our parents, too,” Billa said.
Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2026
