TIRANA, June 9 – A shootout between police officers and an armed group was registered in the late evening hours of Wednesday in Elbasan, 45 km from the capital, causing panic among residents.
The armed incident occurred in a populated area near the city’s main park and the national football stadium, but luckily no casualties were reported.
The local police informed that members of à‡apja family, already known to law enforcement for a long-standing feud with another clan, opened fire with an assault rifle against a police patrol.
Police said they had arrested two persons in connection with the shootout and that they were working to arrest a third person, who fled the scene.
While local authorities did not provide details why the incident occurred, it is reported that police agents in plainclothes were monitoring movements around a property owned by à‡apja family, sparking the suspicions of the latter.
The police raid continued throughout the night arresting six other people and confiscating two AK-47 assault weapons and four handguns and a significant amount of ammunition.
Two days earlier, a member of à‡apja family narrowly escaped an ambush in which another person and a police officer were wounded. The assassination attempt occurred just meters away from the local police station and district court.
Despite a €20,000 reward offered for information leading to the capture of the perpetrators, authorities so far have had no luck in identifying the culprits.
The latest assassination attempt is believed to be connected with a massacre that occurred in the city in February this year. Gunmen mowed down guests at a bar where à‡apja family members had gathered, killing three people and injuring eight others.
While no one was ever charged for the murders, many believe they were the product of a decade-long dispute between rival clans à‡apja and Mema, whose animosity has caused several deaths on both sides over the years. The majority of murders, which began in 2005, have gone unsolved.
