At least 14 people have been killed and 45 wounded in clashes between Hindus and Muslims in India's riot-torn Gujarat state, police said.
"Groups of Hindus and Muslims fought pitched battles through the night in several areas of the old quarter of Ahmedabad. The situation is tense and the slightest provocation could start a riot," a senior police official told reporters.
Eleven of the 14 were killed in clashes and police firing in the state's main city of Ahmedabad, two men were killed on its outskirts and another person was stabbed to death in Sabarkantha town, 138 miles north of the city since yesterday, police said.
The death toll from latest surge of religious violence in Ahmedabad, Gujarat's main commercial city, and other areas of the state has climbed to 24 since Sunday afternoon, police said.
More than 850 people, mostly Muslims, have died in a wave of revenge killings and clashes after a Muslim mob firebombed a train killing 59 Hindu activists in late February.