At least two people have been killed in protests that have erupted in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, local emergency officials say.

A Tibetan source said that police fired live ammunition into a crowd after hundreds of people joined protests on Friday led by Buddhist monks against Chinese rule.

An official with the city's emergency medical centre told the AFP news agency: "We are very busy with the injured people now - there are many people injured here.

"Definitely some people have died, but I don't know how many."

Radio Free Asia, a US-funded broadcaster, also reported that two people were killed.

Led by monks

The protests, which began on Friday morning, were led by 100 monks and quickly attracted other Tibetans.

Witnesses reported hearing gunfire and seeing vehicles in flames in the city's main Barkor shopping district.

Crowds hurled rocks at security forces and at restaurant and hotel windows.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, urged China not to use force against protesters.

"I ... 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," he said in a statement issued from his base in Dharamshala, India, on Friday.

"I also urge my fellow Tibetans not to resort to violence."

Monasteries sealed

Tensions in Lhasa had increased in recent days as the city's three biggest monasteries were sealed off by thousands of soldiers and armed police amid the largest protests in nearly two decades.

Rights groups say this week's demonstrations were the biggest protests in Tibet since Chinese authorities declared martial law to quell a wave of pro-independence demonstrations by monks in 1989.

According to Radio Fee Asia, the violence came as Buddhist monks started a hunger strike and two others attempted suicide.

Crackdown fears

Human rights and Tibetan exile groups fear a violent crackdown after the rare anti-Chinese protests.

Tashi Choephel, a researcher at the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Dharamshala, told Al Jazeera that more than a hundred monks held a peaceful demonstration on Friday.

"But they were then surrounded and cordoned off by the People's Armed Police [Chinese police] and security officials," he said.

"Afterwards, a scuffle ensued, and led to the burning of cars and shops."

Choephel said that demonstrations are happening in other Tibetan towns as well.

Troops deployed

Soldiers moved into position around the sites on the third day of protests involving hundreds of Buddhist monks.

Chinese authorities reportedly used tear gas and electric prods to disperse hundreds of protesters, and detained up to 50 monks.

Tourists are reportedly being barred from entering the monasteries.

Earlier this week, 500 monks from the Drepung monastery staged a march in the capital, followed by protests of monks at Lhasa's Sera and Ganden monasteries.

On Thursday, Chinese government officials confirmed reports of protests in Lhasa but said the situation had been "stabilized".

Monks' demands

According to RFA, monks from Sera are demanding the withdrawal of Chinese paramilitary forces from the monastery compound and the release of monks detained earlier this week.

RFA also reported that two monks from another monastery were in critical condition after attempting suicide by slitting their wrists.

But a spokesman for the Tibet Autonomous Region - as it is officially known in China - denied all the claims.

He said there were no arrests or troops surrounding the monasteries, adding that protests had not spread to the rural areas and that the monasteries were open to tourists.

Uprising anniversary

The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India after an uprising in 1959, nine years after the invasion of Chinese troops.

This week marks the 49th anniversary of the failed uprising, with protests being held in major Asian capitals.

Many Tibetans - including those who say they do not want full independence - are angry at what they see as the suppression of their culture.

The latest show of Tibetan defiance is likely to worry China's leadership as it seeks to secure a stable environment in the run-up to the Olympic Games in Beijing in August.

PHOTO CAPTION 

Residents walk past overturned cars and burning shops in Barkhor Square in central Lhasa, Tibet March 14, 2008.

Al-Jazeera