Report: 100 dead in Tibet violence

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Violent protests in the Tibetan capital Lhasa against Chinese rule have left at least 100 people dead, according to unconfirmed reports from exiles in India, while official media put the death toll at 10.

The protests, sparked by the anniversary of the failed 1959 uprising that sent Tibet's Dalai Lama into exile, are the latest embarrassment to hit 2008 Olympic-host China, which has attracted international criticism over its human rights record.

Quoting the Tibetan government, China's state-run Xinhua news agency said 10 were killed in Lhasa Friday after police blocked a march by monks, sparking the violence.

"The victims are all innocent civilians, and they have been burnt to death," an official with the regional government told Xinhua.

Tibetan exiles in India meanhwile cited unconfirmed reports that at least 100 people were killed and many more injured.

Video broadcast on China's CCTV Saturday showed flames and black smoke rising the market, where hundreds of rioters used hands, feet and sledge hammers to break down doors and shatter windows.

One of the targets of their violence was a Bank of China branch. Protesters, including some monks dressed in red robes, could be seen overturning cars and throwing rocks to chase away other people. There was no sign of Chinese police in the video.

The protests in Tibet began Monday when hundreds of monks rallied on the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Beijing that forced the Dalai Lama into exile.

Police used gunfire and tear gas to quell the Lhasa protest, according to witnesses, human rights groups and Xinhua.

Demonstrators set fire to vehicles and shops. One source said late Friday that up to a third of the city may be on fire and that power lines had been cut.

A main market in Lhasa, Tromsikhang Market, was set on fire, said Kate Saunders, a spokeswoman for the International Campaign for Tibet. The market has many Chinese traders, and she said Tibetans have been concerned about the influx of Chinese into the area.

Some ethnic Tibetan shopkeepers hung scarves outside their stores in an effort to spare them from the protesters' wrath, a witness reported.

Chinese bloggers and U.S.-based human rights groups said Chinese security forces had sealed off the three main monasteries around Lhasa after the violence broke out. The bloggers also said police wearing armored vests were moving toward Lhasa in armored personnel carriers.

Beijing is hosting the Summer Olympics in August, and Tibetan exile groups told CNN they plan to hold demonstrations when the torch is carried through India in April.

The protests had been largely peaceful until Friday, when monks from Ramoche Temple on the north side of Lhasa attempted to march to the capital, rights groups said.

In India, Tibetans planned a protest Saturday at the Jama Masjid, old Delhi's principle mosque. In Nepal, about 100 Tibetan exiles said they were starting a hunger strike in protest.

At least 12 Tibetan refugees -- including some monks -- were arrested Saturday for obstructing traffic in front of the United Nations office in Kathmandu, Nepali police said.

"They were arrested because they were obstructing the road in front of the U.N. office," police spokesman Sushil Bar Singh Thapa told CNN. "They will be released by evening."

However, Free Tibet activists put the figure of those arrested at 48. "Police hit those on hunger strike with batons and arrested them," said Thupten Tenzing Jamphel in a phone interview with CNN.

Indian police surrounded the Tibetan community in old Delhi Friday, effectively sealing it to prevent anyone from going in or out after a Friday night protest, a spokesman for the Tibetan Youth Congress told CNN.

Police arrested 61 people at the protest Friday night, including four who demonstrated at the Chinese embassy, said Youth Congress spokesman Komchok Yarphel.

Yarphel also said that protesters planned to restart a march from the northern Indian city of Dharmsala to the Tibet border that was forcibly stopped Thursday by Indian authorities. Those 100 protesters have been jailed for 14 days, but Yarphel said another 100 will begin the march from Dehra, where the first attempt ended after only three days and 75km.

Police have banned the march and are likely to stop it again.

The protesters planned to reach the border for a confrontation with Chinese authorities in time for the opening of the Beijing Olympics in August.

Dharmsala is home to the Tibetan exile government and the Dalai Lama.

CNN sought permission to enter Tibet on Friday, but the permission had not been granted by Friday evening Beijing time. CNN reporting on Tibet was being blacked out Friday in mainland China.

Chinese authorities blamed the Dalai Lama for the unrest, but the Dalai Lama said the protesters were simply acting out of "deep-rooted resentment" of the Chinese government.

"As I have always said, unity and stability under brute force is at best a temporary solution. It is unrealistic to expect unity and stability under such a rule and would therefore not be conducive to finding a peaceful and lasting solution," he said in a written statement.

"I therefore appeal to the Chinese leadership to stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue with the Tibetan people. I also urge my fellow Tibetans not to resort to violence."