A man was shot dead in clashes between rival Albanian political party activists – in which four others, including a police officer, also suffered injuries – just days ahead of parliamentary elections.
The incident took place on Wednesday in the city of Elbasan, some 40 kilometres south of the capital Tirana, according to local media reports.
The man shot was an election worker for Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party.
The suspected gunman subsequently surrendered to police, reports said. He is said to belong to the national-conservative Democratic Party, which has repeatedly accused the Socialists of electoral fraud and involvement in organized crime.
The shooting occurred when Democratic Party activists stopped the vehicle in which the man who later died was travelling in. Opposition party supporters accused the 56-year-old victim of distributing money to buy votes.
The EU mission and the US embassy in Tirana called on authorities to fully investigate the incident and urged all political sides to exercise restraint.
In Sunday’s elections, Rama’s Socialists are considered the favourite, according to opinion polls.