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 and setting buildings ablaze.
Violent demonstrations have rocked Tirana since Tuesday, with thousands of protesters calling for Rama to step down as they rally against university conditions and high tuition fees.
Protesters on Saturday 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.
In a sign of the escalating violence, police fired rubber bullets on the demonstrators for the first time since the protests began, AFP journalists on the ground saw.
The protests continued into the night, with buildings -- including a court, banks and post office -- set on fire or severely damaged.
Ambulances were seen rushing to pick up injured people as the protest entered its tenth hour.
The health ministry told AFP that 35 people were wounded on Saturday, of which 18 were police and 17 were protesters.
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, told AFP 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.
Sport student Redi Taku told AFP the move was indeed extreme "considering that there are minors aged 16 to 17 among the protesters".
Director of the state police, Skender Hita, told a press conference 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".
Protesters managed to set on fire the Supreme Court building and the entrance of the Bank of Albania, as firefighters rushed to extinguish the blaze.
Minister of justice Toni Gogu said that this was "not strike at the government" but at "two independent institutions" that "serve the country and its citizens".
Suitcase protest
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 told AFP.
"We are not asking for privileges. We are demanding our rights, our future and a better country," he said.
While visiting local businesses damaged in the demonstrations, Rama said he respected the students and added that "their right to protest must and will be protected".
"Their voices, the voices of young people and of every citizen who has taken part in protests today, must and will be heard with respect," Rama said.
However, he added that he "will not allow anyone to jeopardise the future of this country".
Local media reported further protests in the coastal town of Durres, where demonstrators smashed the windows of the post office and blocked roads with burning barricades.
This week's unrest comes after months of anti-government protests in the Balkan nation, initially sparked by a controversial resort development linked to US President Donald Trump's family.