SRINAGAR At least 80 people were wounded on Tuesday when Indian police broke up a procession by thousands of Shia Muslims in the disputed region of Kashmir, police said.

The procession was marking Ashura, a ritual period of mourning for Shias marking the death of the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad.

Public gatherings, including religious processions as well as marches by separatists, have not been allowed in Indian-administered Kashmir since a bloody rebellion against Indian rule broke out in 1989.

Police said the mourners were led by a separatist group in Srinagar.

Stone throwing Shias clashed with police in several parts of Srinagar after the procession was stopped, witnesses said, and police fired teargas.

More than 150 people were detained, police officer Parvez Mohammed said.

During the first Muslim month of Muharram, Shias across the world mourn the death of the Prophets grandson Imam Hussein in the Iraqi city of Kerbala in 680.

Tuesdays procession in Srinagar was headed by members of Ittihadul Muslimeen Jammu Kashmir, part of the regions main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference.

We strongly condemn the excessive use of force and police brutality, said Moulana Abbas Ansari, a leading Shia cleric and chief of Ittihadul Muslimeen.

Officials say more than 47,000 people have been killed in two decades of violence involving Indian troops and separatist militants in Kashmir. Separatists put the toll at 100,000.