(dpa) - Hundreds of Tibetans protested at the weekend in two north-western Chinese provinces despite deployments of security forces, exile groups said Monday.
Saturday's and Sunday's demonstrations occurred in areas of Gansu and Qinghai provinces with ethnic-Tibetan populations, the groups said, adding that witnesses said a number of demonstrators were injured in clashes with security forces during a protest by about 1,000 people in the Gansu city of Xiapagou.
Young Tibetans and Tibetan monks fled the protest to avoid arrest, the reports said.
Protests were also reported in Malho prefecture and Manra county in Qinghai.
Tibetan groups said Chinese security forces have increased their presence in Tibetan-populated areas, surrounded monasteries and in some places cut off food and water supplies.
Protests by Tibetans in China and other countries began March 10, the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule.