TIRANA - Albania appeared to be plunging back into chaos yesterday with the killing of four policemen by armed gangs. Three policemen were killed overnight in the southern port of Vlore while chasing thieves who had stolen a police car. The officers were shot several times with automatic weapons and then taken out of their car and riddled with bullets.
One of the attackers was injured in the head and hospitalised. Gunmen yesterday forced the authorities to evacuate the man to Italy after threatening to kill four Italian doctors at the hospital.
The fourth policeman, aged 26, was killed by unidentified gunmen in the Albanian capital where he was guarding a petrol station. Three criminals aged between 40 and 50 were also killed in the south-western city of Korea yesterday while trying to steal a car and loot two shops, an official with the town's ruling committee said.
A Dutch journalist was shot in the southern town of Sarande and was admitted to a Greek hospital in critical condition, hospital sources said. The journalist was identified as Vilma Gundabel (39), who worked for the British television networks ITN and Channel 4. Four other civilians were slain in unclear circumstances.