Dozens of people raised their arms in the fascist salute and shouted a fascist chant during ceremonies to honour Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on the 79th anniversary of his execution.

Dressed in black, the neo-fascist supporters marched through northern Italian towns where Mussolini was arrested and executed at the end of the Second World War, and also in Predappio – his birthplace and final resting place.

Mussolini was stopped by anti-fascist partisans in Dongo, on the shores of Lake Como, on April 27, 1945 as he tried to escape with his lover, Clara Petacci, following the Allied liberation of Italy.

On Sunday, a group of neo-fascists marched through Dongo and placed 15 roses in the lake in memory of the ministers and officials from the Mussolini government who were killed there, according to video of the event by LaPresse news agency.

The partisans executed Mussolini and Petacci the following day in the nearby lakeside town of Mezzegra-Giulino, where commemorations were also held on Sunday.

After a rendition of Taps, the leader of the commemorations shouted “Comrad Benito Mussolini”, and the crowd responded with a stiff-armed fascist salute and chant of “present”.

Several police vehicles separated the demonstrators in Dongo from hundreds of protesters who sang the famous partisan song “Bella Ciao” during the ceremony.

The anniversary of Mussolini’s execution fell on the same day that premier Giorgia Meloni was leading her far-right Brothers of Italy party in an election rally in the city of Pescara.

Brothers of Italy traces its roots to the Italian Social Movement, which was founded in 1946 by a chief of staff in Mussolini’s last government and drew fascist sympathisers and officials into its ranks after Mussolini’s fall.

Ms Meloni, who joined the MSI’s youth branch as a teenager, has tried to distance her party from its neo-fascist roots. She has condemned fascism’s suppression of democracy and insisted the Italian right handed fascism over to history decades ago.

On Sunday, Ms Meloni accused the left of being more of a totalitarian threat to Italy today.