Albanian police

The killing has caused a strong reaction from Athens.

According to Albanian media, the victim, Konstantinos Katsifas, a 35-yer-old, shot from a Kalashnikov (AK-47) rifle at Albanian police officers who were removing the flag.

Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos on Monday called on Albanian authorities to avoid inflammatory rhetoric in the wake of the fatal shooting of an ethnic Greek man by Albanian police in southern Albania on Sunday.

A few hours after an ethnic Greek man was killed in southern Albania in an exchange of fire with the Albanian police, the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama appeared to throw oil onto the fire in a tweet that described the victim as "a crazy person."

In a post on Twitter, Rama said the Albanian police was "just doing their job."

The Greek Foreign Ministry has called on Albanian authorities to "provide complete clarification" of the circumstances under which an ethnic Greek man was shot by Albanian police after reportedly opening fire at officers with an assault rifle.

Albanian police shot and killed an ethnic Greek man on Sunday after he opened fire against officers taking down a Greek flag at a World War II cemetery in the village of Bularat, some 6 kilometers from Albania's border with Greece.

Albanian police reportedly shot and killed an ethnic Greek man on Sunday after he opened fire against officers taking down a Greek flag at a World War II cemetery in the village of Bularat, some 6 kilometers from Albania's border with Greece.

Albania's opposition leader Lulzim Basha said on Friday that he wants an in-depth investigation into alleged vote-buying by the ruling Socialists, claiming that the party secured its comfortable victory in the 2017 elections through collaboration with criminals.

Multiple police operations were staged on Sunday across Albania, with officers arresting more than two dozen people suspected of drug smuggling and confiscating guns and narcotics, police and prosecutors announced on Monday in Tirana.

The head of the Serious Crime Prosecution Office, Donika Prela, said the investigation started back in 2016 and was then extended across the country.

Albanian police arrested former Socialist Party MPs Arben Ndoka and Arben Cuko plus several other people in a series of operations against organised crime suspects on Sunday, with Prime Minister Edi Rama stating that no one is above the law.

Albanian police have seized 25 religious icons and 37 old coins they suspect were stolen in neighboring Greece to be sold on the black market.

A national police statement issued Friday said police arrested two people and found the icons and coins at the suspects' homes on Thursday. The statement says the items were to be sold for 3,000 euros ($3,500.)