Forces surround 2 Tibet monasteries
Soldiers and police have been deployed around two Buddhist monasteries in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, where monks launched protests against Chinese rule this week, witnesses and residents said.
A man who answered the phone Thursday at the Sera monastery said monks had been confined inside and were relying on dwindling food supplies.
The monastery was “surrounded by many people,” said the man, who refused to identify himself or say whether he was a monk.
Another Lhasa resident, who also refused to be identified, said the Drepung monastery was encircled by “three layers” of army personnel and that the Sera monastery had been surrounded by more than 2,000 police officers.
A Foreign Ministry official in Beijing had no immediate comment late Thursday.
It is difficult to get independent verification of events in Tibet because China maintains rigid control over it.
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