Chinese Police Fire on Tibetan Monks, Rights Group Says Police in a restive Tibetan part of southwestern China opened fire on a group of monks and others who had gathered to mark the birthday of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, seriously injuring at least two of them, a rights group said. The incident, in Ganzi in Sichuan province, happened on Saturday at the gathering on a sacred mountain to make offerings and burn incense to celebrate the Dalai Lama's 78th birthday, the US-based International Campaign for Tibet said. "Large numbers of armed police and soldiers were deployed, with one source reporting at least seven army trucks and police vehicles at the scene," the group said in an e-mail on Tuesday. "The security forces attempted to prevent Tibetans from making their offerings and gatherings, but according to two Tibetan sources in exile, some Tibetans present argued that burning incense was not a crime," it added in the statement. Without warning, according to several Tibetan sources, police opened fire on the unarmed crowd and used tear-gas. Two monks were shot in the head and several others seriously injured, the group added. While Chinese security forces often use heavy-handed tactics to stop protests in Tibetan regions, they rarely use guns. Officials reached by telephone in Ganzi said they had no knowledge of the incident. Beijing considers the Dalai Lama, who fled China in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, a violent separatist. The Dalai Lama, 78, is based in India and says he is merely seeking greater autonomy for his Himalayan homeland. At least 119 Tibetans have set themselves alight in protest against Chinese rule since 2009, mostly in heavily Tibetan areas of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces rather than in what China terms the Tibet Autonomous Region. Most have died. Beatings, vehicles smashed US-based Radio Free Asia said the police fired bullets and tear gas to disperse the gathering of about about 1000 Tibetans in Tawu, a county in Sichuan. Police officers beat some Tibetans and smashed the windows of vehicles carrying them to the celebration at the Machen Pomra sacred mountain, the broadcaster quoted unnamed sources as saying. ""They smashed doors and windows of our vehicles and started beating Tibetans gathered in the area and dispersed the Tibetans and started shooting at the crowd,"" it quoted one local Tibetan as saying. Online reports of the clash included photographs of injured Tibetans and of police stopping a car on the mountain. Tibetans in nearby areas also marked the Dalai Lama's birthday despite the presence of paramilitary police, the International Campaign for Tibet said. ""This incident in Tawu represents a major test to the international community's commitment to stand up for the rights of the Tibetan people to peacefully promote their national and religious identity,"" said Tenzin Jigme, international coordinator of the International Tibet Network. Reuters, DPA