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Thousands of people rallied in Tirana on Saturday at a new anti-government demonstration after days of unrest, with police firing tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Demonstrators and police have clashed routinely in Tirana since mid-October.
Authorities say several government buildings have been attacked, dozens of people detained and more than 300 protesters and officers injured.
Police fired rubber bullets on Saturday as some protesters set off fireworks at security forces.
The health ministry said 13 people suffered injuries, including nine demonstrators, two journalists and three officers.
Groups representing university professors, artists and opposition parties declared support, and many shops closed, some with shutter signs reading “Don’t touch. We’re with you.”
Shortly after the gathering began outside the education ministry, a focal point of the protests, a group hurled stones at the building, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporter said.
Riot police immediately responded with water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets.
Anti-government protests began in May over a luxury hotel project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s family. Anger over the resort has since broadened into a push against corruption and demands that Prime Minister Edi Rama step down.
Rama, a socialist, has blamed “foreign actors” for the unrest and pointed to Russia and Iran as drivers of online misinformation. He has also called for dialogue, published photos of about 40 people he accused of violence and renewed demands that dozens of public institution heads resign.
Red cushions placed around an improvised concrete table outside government headquarters on Saturday, a symbolic gesture for dialogue, stayed empty and were later set on fire by hundreds of protesters.
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