AHMADABAD, India - Police fired guns and tear gas to halt clashes Friday between Hindus and Muslims which flared in western Gujarat state, where more than 1,000 people were killed in sectarian violence last year.

Two policemen and a passer-by were injured in the clashes in Vadodara, 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Ahmabadad, the state's largest city, police said. The unrest came after Muslims marched in the streets to mark the annual Islamic holiday of Muharram.

Rioters hurled rocks and smashed the windows of the car of C.P. Thakur, joint police commissioner of Vadodara. His driver and a radio operator were injured.

"The rioters also attacked a middle-aged man and he was taken to a hospital for treatment," Thakur said. Two police motorcycles were set on fire, he said.

Muharram commemorates the 7th century martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Islam's prophet Muhammad, in a battle in the Iraqi town of Karbala. The 10-day holiday is marked by prayers, processions and plays recounting the battle.

Police said there was also tension on Friday in the Pirana neighborhood in Ahmadabad, where a religious shrine is claimed by both Hindus and Muslims.

Vadodara and Ahmadabad are among the towns and cities in Gujarat where fierce Hindu-Muslim clashes killed more than 1,000 people last year and created a sharp religious divide between majority Hindus and minority Muslims.

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