09/10/2013 09:43
Tibet: Chinese police 'fired into protesters'
At least 60 Tibetans were injured after Chinese police fired into a crowd of protesters, rights group Free Tibet and US-based Radio Free Asia report, according to the BBC.
The shooting occurred on Sunday in Biru county, as villagers demanded police free a man who led separate protests in September, the reports said.
There had been clashes in September after Tibetans refused to fly China's flag outside their homes, reports said.
Tibet is governed as an autonomous region in China.
However, rights groups have accused China of religious and political repression - something denied by the Chinese authorities.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that she was unaware of the reports, and declined to comment further, Reuters news agency said.
A policeman at the public security bureau in Tibet's Biru county also told AFP news agency that there was "no protest, no one injured."
Foreign media are banned from Tibet, making reports difficult to verify.
On 6 October, a crowd of protesters gathered outside the local government office appealing for the release of local Dorjee Dagtsel, Radio Free Asia, and UK-based Free Tibet, said.
Security forces opened fire into the crowd, injuring at least 60 and leaving two in a critical condition, they said.
Free Tibet added in the statement that the forces "deployed tear gas" and beat the protesters.
Free Tibet named the two critically injured Tibetans as Tagyal, who had a broken femur, and Tsewang, who was shot in the jaw. It said they had been taken to a hospital in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.