Five criminal incidents in a year in Saranda: explosive blasts, 2 dead and 3 injured!

The murder in the middle of the city of Saranda of 44-year-old Artan Murtaj is the latest episode in a series of criminal incidents that have rocked the coastal city for more than a year.

Within the span of 12 months, a conflict that began over the use of a coastal space has turned into a chain of assassinations, injuries and property destruction, with two victims, three injured — among them a passerby who is in serious condition in hospital. Such a war toll, which could have been prevented by the police, reached such proportions, and the conflict seems far from extinguished.

It all began on July 17, 2025, when in a bar in Saranda, after a conflict related to the use of a space near the coast, Gëzim Hajdaraj, 33, and Ernest Lama, 24, both from Kamza, were shot and left injured.

According to investigators, the suspected perpetrator of the shooting was Ramadan Zoto, also known as Ramadan Canaj, and his brother Erjon Canaj, while Artan Murtaj and Klaus Jaçaj were suspected of having helped in the incident.

Only 4 days later, on July 21, Saranda was rocked by an explosive blast placed in the vehicle of Klaus Jaçaj, one of the people linked to the injury case. This was the first signal that the conflict had not ended, but was entering another phase, that of revenge. Perpetrator Ramadan Zoto was later arrested in Korçë, but his arrest did not stop the criminal chain.

On October 5, 2025, Saranda was rocked by another explosive assassination attempt. Isuf Jaçaj, the father of Klaus Jaçaj, was killed while traveling in his vehicle. Around 500 grams of TNT had been placed in the car, while the blast also caused considerable damage in the surrounding area.

Less than two months later, on November 29, in Ksamil a bar linked to Ramadan Zoto was destroyed by fire. The incident was suspected to be intentional, but the perpetrators and motive were not uncovered.

A day earlier, the criminal series returned to the middle of the city of Saranda. Artan Murtaj, 44, who had been involved in the July 17, 2025 injury case and was accused of supporting the perpetrator of the crime, was shot dead by 2 people traveling by motorbike. A passerby was also injured by the hail of bullets.

A year after the injury that ignited this conflict, the toll is heavy and the conflict is clearly not extinguished. Police arrested suspected persons for the double injury, but the perpetrators of the events that followed remained a mystery. The police were left with only the shell casings, security cameras and investigative files following one another without being able to break this chain of revenge. /TCH/