Investigators believe explosives were used to send a message to law enforcement and cause panic after two blasts and attempted attacks this week.
TIRANA, Feb. 12 – Authorities are on the hunt for suspects following the use of small amounts of explosives to target property with ties to the families of the interior minister and a police official as well as the finding of unexploded devices left overnight near a Tirana bus shelter and a high school.
No one has been hurt in the attacks, but they have been labeled “terrorist acts” by authorities, who say they aimed to cause panic among the population as well as intimate public officials leading the war on crime.
The two blasts happened before dawn of Tuesday and targeted a pharmacy owned by the father of Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri and the apartment of a senior police official.
Police performed a controlled explosion on a third device found at a Tirana bus shelter in the main Unaza line. On Thursday another device was found and neutralized near a Tirana’s Petro Nini Luarasi high school.
– PM, investigators say attacks were ‘terrorist acts’
Prime Minister Edi Rama described the incidents as a coordinated “terrorist acts,” linking the attacks with the government’s recent anti-crime drive across the country.
“There will be no tolerance in the war on crime,” Rama said. “Saimir Tahiri is at the helm of such war and those who have ordered and executed this act of terror on his family will learn that today they have given the minister and all of us more motivation to … do this high duty in the service of the country and its people.”
The use of small explosive devices in acts of targeted violence is not rare in Albania, but this is the first time the family of a cabinet minister has been targeted and the first time such explosive devices have been left in a public place like a bus shelter.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosions that occurred 25 minutes apart. The first destroyed the pharmacy, a business owned by the family of the interior minister and shattered nearby windows. The blast happened close to Tirana’s main hospital.
Prosecutors from the Serious Crimes Unit have taken over the investigations and are treating all three incidents as related. State Police Chief Artan Didi said police were looking at evidence left behind by the criminals.
Police distributed video of a hooded suspect on a bicycle seen in business security cameras both at the pharmacy and at the bus station across town.
– Tahiri says he won’t be intimidated
Tahiri said it was not easy to see his family threatened, but added it would not stop him from doing his job.
“Everything in my power is at the disposal of the victory of the continuous battles against crime and criminals. Nothing and no one, with any form of pressure or terror of any kind, can stop me from the path the people set on June 23,” Tahiri said, referring to the Socialist-led coalition victory in the 2013 elections.
– Response takes political dimension
The response to the attacks took a political dimension as there was a debate over crime rates and the ability of police to fight crime.
The opposition Democratic Party condemned the explosions and asked authorities to find the perpetrators. But the Democrats’ parliamentary group leader, Edi Paloka, said in a press conference that the increase in the number of crimes comes as the result of poor work by police and authorities under the new government.
Paloka added many policemen are linked to the crime. He added that Tahiri himself has been associated with criminal suspects in the past.
The Democrats statement was met with anger by the ruling Socialists.
International representatives in Tirana issued statements that strongly condemned the attacks and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
“The use of violence as a means of intimidation and coercion is a cowardly act that undermines democracy and has no place in today’s Albania,” the U.S. Embassy in Tirana said in statement, adding it “is proud to continue its longstanding support for Albania’s Ministry of Interior, Police, and other security services in the fight against organized crime, narcotics trafficking, and corruption.”
– Don’t politicize response, international representatives say
The OSCE Presence called on all political forces to “avoid politicization of the attacks and to grant the relevant authorities the space to thoroughly investigate these acts and to identify and prosecute those responsible.”
It was a sentiment echoed by the EU Delegation to Albania.
“We underline our strong support for enforcement of the rule of law, without compromise. We trust that the perpetrators will be brought to justice and expect all political forces to unite in supporting this goal,” the delegation said, also calling for a more “responsible behavior and discourse, in particular on rule of law issues, from all those who take part in public life, in Albania’s national interests.”
Albania’s government and state institutions moved to amend legislation last year to increase enforcement to address growing concerns over rule of law in the country.
It included changes to the country’s key crime legislation, the penal code, in an effort to introduce tougher punishments for a variety of criminal trends that have created negative perceptions about rule of law in Albania, including the use of explosives, electricity theft and drunk driving.
The illegal possession of the explosive devices will see sentences of to 20 years in prison, a steep increase from the current five years.
The proposed change come following more than a dozen instances in which small amounts of explosives have been used in acts or targeted violence across Albania in recent months.
This story first appeared on Page 3 of the Feb. 13 Tirana Times print edition.
