13 held in Greece over violence linked to murders of 2 neo-Nazis

Greek police said Thursday that 13 people were arrested after far-right and far-left groups clashed in Athens on the anniversary of the fatal shootings of two neo-Nazis a decade ago.

Police had banned gatherings related to the deaths of the two members of the Golden Dawn party and on Tuesday detained 21 Italian fascists who flew to Athens to mark the occasion.

On November 1, 2013, two armed assailants riding a motorbike shot dead 22-year-old Manolis Kapelonis and 27-year-old Giorgos Fountoulis outside the Golden Dawn offices in the Athens suburb of Neo Iraklio.

A third party member was also seriously injured in the drive-by attack. Golden Dawn, under criticism at the time for beating migrants and political opponents, turned the two men into martyrs.

Some 1,600 anti-fascist protesters staged separate demonstrations in the Greek capital on Wednesday despite the ban, police said.

Several people were arrested after allegedly attacking riot police with clubs and stones, the police said.

In another incident on the Athens subway, far-right militants clashed with far-left rivals inside a train stationed at the central Monastiraki station.