At least 14 people were injured, one critically, after clashes between anarchists and police in central Athens on Wednesday.

A woman walks past anti-riot police during a march against austerity measures in central Athens, capital of Greece, May 11, 2011. The two umbrella labor unions of private and public sector employees GSEE and ADEDY staged the second nationwide 24-hour general strike this year over austerity policies implemented to tackle an acute debt crisis. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)(msq)

Authorities said at least 12 protesters and two police officers were transmitted to hospitals after scuffles erupted in front of the parliament building.

A 30-year old protester was in critical condition suffering from head injuries, according to hospital sources. Eyewitnesses claim in Greek media amid a news blackout due to the strike, that the young man was injured by police.

Minor violence incidents spread at a distance of two kilometers to Exarhia district in central Athens Wednesday afternoon, where tension has risen since Tuesday due to the fatal stabbing of a 44-year old Greek citizen by three robbers of northern African origin, according to eye witnesses.

The man was stabbed to death by the attackers who stole his camera and are still wanted. He would drive his pregnant wife to hospital to give birth to their second child.

His death shocked locals and fuelled tension between far-right groups who attacked illegal immigrants and Left anarchists in the area who defend them. Exarchia is for decades a hub for anarchists and a theatre of clashes with police. In December 2008 the fatal shooting of a teenager by police fire caused the worst riots by hooded youth in the modern history of Greece.

At least 24 people have been detained Wednesday for torching dustbins, damaging cars and attacking police with Molotov bombs in scuffles across the center of Athens from Syntagma square in front of the parliament to the Athens Polytechnic School at Exarhia, according to police sources.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet