Bomb blasts hit Gujarat buses

Ahmedabad has been scene to months of Hindu-Muslim clashes

AHMEDABAD, India (CNN) -- Explosions ripped through three buses in the strife-torn western Indian state of Gujarat Wednesday, lightly injuring nine people, police said.

The explosive devices -- described as crude bombs -- all detonated midmorning within a half an hour of each other in different parts of the city of Ahmedabad, according to Additional Commissioner of Police Pramod Kumar.

The explosions coincided with commuter rush hour in the city, the commercial hub of Gujarat state.

There is no indication as yet of who might be behind the violence although the state has been rocked by months of Hindu-Muslim violence that officials say has left close to a thousand dead.

The violence began in February when a Muslim mob torched a train carrying Hindu pilgrims, killing 58.

FOCUS Desolate life in India's refugee camps  Gandhi's legacy struggles in Asia    GALLERY Tragedy in Gujarat

In the weeks that followed gangs of Hindus have torn through Muslim areas of Ahmedabad and other parts of Gujarat in revenge for the train attack.

The official death toll from the violence is close to a thousand, but human rights groups say their own investigations put the number well above 2,000.

They say most of the dead are Muslims, including a large number of women and children.

Soldiers who had been deployed to the state to keep a lid on tensions were last week redeployed to the border with Pakistan amid rising tensions between South Asia's two nuclear rivals.