TIRANA: Protesters in Albania were set to hold a new anti-government rally in Tirana on Saturday, following days of violent unrest in the capital.
Since last week, student demonstrators have taken to the streets to protest against poor conditions, corruption and to renew months-long calls for prime minister Edi Rama to resign.
Protesters have routinely clashed with police and attacked government buildings, with more than 300 people, including many officers, injured and dozens of demonstrators detained.
The situation has calmed in recent days, with only sporadic incidents in Tirana, but the student-led protest movement has called for a new rally on Saturday.
Organisers called on students and others around Albania to join the protest.
Various groups including university professors, artists and opposition parties have announced their support or attendance.
"There is a lot of anger," said activist Sidorela Vatnikaj, labelling the movement a "revolution".
"It's not a matter of only students, it's not a matter only of environmental struggles ... It's a matter of the state of rights and state of law," she told AFP.
The first gathering, organised by the opposition, is planned for midday in central Tirana.
It will be followed by another called by students in front of the education ministry, which became a focal point for protests.
Albania ranks 91st among 182 countries on watchdog Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.
Anti-government protests in the Balkan nation started in May, sparked by a controversial resort development on an Adriatic island linked to US president Donald Trump's family.
However, anger over the development has morphed into a broader push against corruption, amid ongoing demands that the prime minister step down.
As calls to join the protest spread on social media and tourists strolled through Tirana's central square, some public buildings in the capital were boarded up, with shutters closed and entrances sealed behind large metal sheets, according to AFP reporters.
In some areas, cobblestones used by protesters as projectiles had been removed from sidewalks and replaced with gravel.
Rama has blamed "foreign actors" for the protest violence and accused both Russia and Iran of driving online misinformation.
The Socialist prime minister has also called for "dialogue".