Shijak, Albania – In the small town of Shijak, 20 miles from capital Tirana we lived again what is called the black year by many Albanians 1997, that year was repeated again when two gang groups got into a war with each other. The reason we call 1997 as the black year is when the army depot got broken by the Albanians and that was the year you could see the 8 years olds kids on the streets holding an ak47 or taking a ride on a military tank. That year the word Kalashnikov was the most famous word in Albania and there wasn’t a home that did not have a Kalashnikov with ammunition of at least 5000 bullets.
On early Sunday morning 21st of June at 3 o’clock on the outskirts of Shijak just few miles outside from Durres the most tourists populated place in Albania that year was repeated again when the ak47’s were heard by the habitants of Shijak where they got terrorised by the shootings that took place.
The war between the two gang groups continued for almost half hour with a non-stop shooting and bullets were flying on top of the houses and this was only stopped when police sirens were heard in distance, the two gang groups left and police arrived at the scene. The police covered the ammunition left behind and blood in the ground was discovered where samples have been sent in the laboratory for verification.
Head of Durres police Ilia Nasi was asked by Albanian Times correspondent Erind Kurti, if the shooting was linked with the two main gang groups of Durres or with the latest killing of Democratic Party activist Artan Zeka where he got into a fight for hanging the posters of the June election where in suspicion of the killing Skender Balla has since been detained in the police station of Durres. Ilia answered that he is not ruling out any links with the latest killing nor with the two main gangs and he said that up to 10 people have been taken for questioning in the police station.
Durres is one the regions where has seen most gangland wars in Albania. War between the two gang groups started in 2002 when two main bosses of the gang group of Durres got into a disagreement and that’s when the group got split into two and the feud between the two started. And from being best friends is what turned into the worst enemies for Lulzim Berisha and Klodian Saliu. There have been many attempts in killing each other where Lulzim Berisha survived three ambushes. Not succeeding on the main gangs, family members, close friends and right hands of the two got eliminated and paid the price.
Klodian Saliu known as the nightmare of Durres and the one that police could not even get close to even knowing that all the Albanian drug trafficking was controlled by him, the one that Lulzim Berisha would shake just by thinking his name got killed on the 26th of February 2005. It was a spectacular killing on the early morning when he was returning from Tirana to Durres driving alone in on the motorway he got closed up by three cars in each side and did not have a place to manoeuvre but got hit hard by his enemy that did not make a scene in public since they became enemies.
The right hand man of Saliu, Indrit Dockle became the main man after the killing and he planned three ambushes on Berisha but did not succeed on eliminating him. Berisha and Dockle were later arrested and prosecution still continues but the gang groups continue business as usual on their names where drugs and arms continue flowing on their names. From behind the bars Lulzim Berisha has continued to give orders and managed to kill three man from Indrit Dockles group with two of them being the brothers of Klodian Saliu. Indrit Dockle did not stop there and he too from behind the bars has given orders in executing 4 of Lulzim Berishas man in a period of four years, war of the two gang groups still continues. (Reporting for Albanian Times, Erind Kurti.)
interesting story!
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