Athens  - Civil unrest, which rocked Greece over the weekend after the shooting of a teenager by police, subsided early Monday, media reports said.

According to Greek television reports almost all of the 150 hooded youths who had sought shelter inside the Polytechnic University, which is off-limits to police under Greek law, had left the building.

At least 40 people were injured in the riots, which raged since Saturday. The unrest left Athens and the northern port city of Thessaloniki resembling war zones as self-styled anarchists torched cars, banks, police precincts, car dealerships, government buildings, private homes and stores and erected barricades that were set ablaze.

The rioting and protests began late Saturday in Athens, shortly after the shooting in the central district of Exarchia.

The exact circumstances are still unclear surrounding the shooting of the teenager - whose age was reported in varying accounts as either 15 or 16. Police said the shooting occurred after groups of youths began attacking a police car with stones and firebombs.

A purported warning shot by a police officer inflicted a serious stomach wound to the teenager, who died on arrival at a hospital.

Witnesses claim that there was only a verbal exchange between the youths and police, and that the police officer fired into the group.

Despite charges of manslaughter filed against two of the police officers allegedly involved in the shooting, the violence continued unabated until the early hours of Monday. (dpa)