(Updates with new death toll, details)

HYDERABAD, India, May 18 (Reuters) - A bomb exploded during Friday prayers at a historic mosque in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, killing at least nine worshippers.

A few hours after the blast, police fired on an angry crowd near the mosque, killing three protesters and wounding five.

Police said more than 50 people were injured in the blast at Mecca Masjid, the main mosque in Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh state. The city, which is one of India's IT hubs, has also long been a communal flashpoint.

It was the third major bombing of a mosque in India over the last year. Authorities fear the attacks could spark communal unrest between minority Muslims and majority Hindus.

New Delhi said it was a "terrorist" attack but did not name the militant groups under suspicion.

At the time of the blast thousands of worshippers were praying at the sprawling 17th century mosque, which is said to house one of Prophet Mohammed's hairs.

"I had just said my prayers and there was a blast. Suddenly I was hit by a rock," Naseeruddin, 45, told Reuters as he lay in hospital, his head wrapped in a blood-stained white bandage.

"When I looked up, another rock hit my face. Then I fell unconscious," the street vendor said. Nearby, other wounded men groaned in pain as relatives kept watch.

Officials said the death toll could rise and three other crude bombs were defused as crowds, angered by the attack, clashed with police around the mosque.

Thousands of police patrolled deserted streets late on Friday. Hyderabad has a large Muslim population.

Hundreds of men and boys in white prayer caps rushed out of the mosque after the explosion, which occurred in the area where worshippers wash their hands and face before prayers.

Marble floors around the mosque were spattered in blood. A police officer at the scene said the bomb was triggered by a mobile phone.

FRIDAY ATTACKS ON MOSQUES

A bomb blast killed 32 people in September at a mosque in the western state of Maharashtra which police blamed on a banned Islamic students group trying to spark communal tension.

Two bombs exploded at New Delhi's main mosque, Jama Masjid, wounding 10 people in April 2006. All took place on a Friday, the Muslim day of prayer when mosques are generally crowded.

One security analyst said Islamist militants, bent on forcing Muslims everywhere to follow a strict form of Islam, could be behind the wave of attacks.

"There have been attacks on Muslims in countries like Iraq, Thailand and Pakistan by Islamist militants," B. Raman, the former head of the counter-terrorism unit of India's spy agency, the Research and Analysis Wing.

"This seems to be happening in India as well by those who follow a pan-Islamist ideology."

A Muslim community leader demanded officials look into other suspects. "The police must investigate all angles to see whether the suspects are Muslim or Hindu extremists," said Kamal Faruqui, the chairman of Delhi Minority Commission.

Around 140 million people of India's billion-plus population are Muslims. Hindus make up more than 80 percent of the population. (Reporting by a Reuters reporter in Hyderabad; Additional reporting by Kamil Zaheer, Prithwish Ganguly, C. K. Nayak and Palash Kumar in New Delhi)

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