Beijing - Chinese paramilitary police shot dead at least seven protesters during clashes with hundreds of monks and lay Tibetans on Sunday afternoon at the Kirti monastery in Ngaba county, Sichuan province, the India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported. Hundreds of people were also known to have been injured in the clashes after a "peaceful demonstration by thousands of people," the centre said in a statement, citing eyewitness accounts.
The protest began after a prayer session Sunday morning.
The monks and lay Tibetans raised the Tibetan national flag, which is banned in China and shouted slogans including "Tibet independence," "return of the Dalai Lama" and "freedom for Tibet," the centre quoted witnesses as saying.
Police rushed into the monastery compound and used tear gas against the protesters, it said.
But protesters were later joined by more Tibetans from the county and thousands of them marched towards the county government headquarters, the centre said.
Troop reinforcements had already entered the area after a protest at a nearby monastery on Saturday led to the arrest of at least 10 monks, it said.
