Uniformed police and military personnel apparently abandoned Tirana, a day after a new government took up the daunting task of restoring order in a country split by deadly turmoil. It was unclear, however, whether plainclothes security forces were still operating.
President Sali Berisha, whose once firm grip on power has been weakened by seven weeks of street protests triggered by the failure of pyramid investment schemes, called in opposition politicians to tell them that he is no longer in control of the military.
Within hours, Berisha and newly named Prime Minister Bashkim Fino asked for international military intervention in a statement read on state television.
The appeal, made to the European members of NATO, was an effort "to guard the integrity of Albania, restore peace and safeguard the institutions in this dangerous situation," according to a statement read on the nightly newscast.
The assailants emerged from a sugar cane plantation in the village of Nag Dawoud in Nag Hamadi province, 300 miles south of Cairo, officials said.
They began shooting randomly in the mostly Christian village and then fled, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.