2008 Lhasa Violence - Other Events

Other Events

An eyewitness stated that police cars, fire engines and other official vehicles were set on fire after anger erupted following the police's dispersal of a peaceful demonstration near a small temple in Lhasa. According to CNN, Police used gunfire and tear gas to break up the protest. "The monks are still protesting. Police and army cars were burned. There are people crying," she said. Tensions in Lhasa increased as the city's three biggest monasteries were sealed off by thousands of soldiers and armed police amid the largest protests in nearly two decades. Chinese authorities reportedly fired warning shots and used tear gas and electric prods to disperse hundreds of protesters, in addition to detaining up to 50 monks. US embassy officials in Beijing told the Associated Press that U.S. citizens had reportedly seen gunfire and rioting in Lhasa. Tibetan exiles quoted in the Times of London report that at least five people had been killed in police firing by March 15.

According to a Tibetan who fled Tibet after the demonstrations in Lhasa, knife-wielding Chinese troops attacked Tibetan demonstrators on March 14, and several demonstrators died from gunshot and knife wounds.