At least 60 Tibetans were injured, some seriously, when Chinese troops opened fire on Tibetan protesters at the weekend, Tibetan rights groups and US-based Radio Free Asia reported.
The shooting occurred on Sunday in Biru County in Naqu Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region, as the villagers were calling for the release of a local Tibetan who had objected to orders from a 'patriotic education' work team prior to China's National Day, International Campaign For Tibet (ICT) said on Tuesday.
The incident followed a crackdown on September 29 in the region, after a failed attempt by the authorities to compel families and monasteries in the area to raise Chinese national flags to mark the founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China. More than 40 people were detained and many more seriously injured as a result of severe beatings from security forces.
Tsering Gyaltsen, who is in his twenties, was named by sources as being one of those seriously injured after torture in detention after police apparently singled him out as a 'ringleader' of the protesters. He is said to be in critical condition as he was denied medical treatment.
Militarization has been dramatically stepped up in the Biru area after resistance to work teams sent as part of an intensified drive across the Tibet Autonomous Region to enforce loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. Tibetans in Biru are still in danger as the authorities enforce an even more intense lock down than before, cutting communications with the area. A notice has been disseminated in Lhasa to warn people from the county not to return there at present, according to exile Tibetan sources.
Free Tibet said the forces "deployed tear gas" and beat the protesters, while ICT said "it is not known if troops fired live rounds or tear-gas when they opened fire."
The Tibetans had gathered to protest the detention of Dorje Dragtsel, who spoke out at a meeting to enforce raising the Chinese flag and loyalty to the Communist Party by a visiting work team. Dragtsel was taken away from the meeting by security personnel and his whereabouts is not known.
Tibetans gathered in Dorje Dragtsel's home area, Dathang township, to call for his release. The protesters were "violently suppressed by about 300 security forces using guns and iron batons" according to the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy and other Tibetan sources.
It is the second time in the last few months that Chinese troops have fired upon a gathering of Tibetans. At least ten people were injured on July 6 when police opened fire on a group peacefully celebrating the Dalai Lama's birthday in Dafu, a Tibetan Autonomous region in Sichuan Province.
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