裝甲部隊已經部署在拉薩周圍，目擊者稱坦克已經進入拉薩市區並部署在布達拉宮前的北京路，拉薩大召寺，小召寺，色拉寺，哲蚌寺全部戒嚴。北京東路和朵森格路飯店內的遊客通過望遠鏡看到示威喇嘛中有人扛出白底花紋旗幟，疑為西藏獨立組織的雪山獅子旗，遊客報導的騷亂人數也遠超過外界估計，達到3000人左右。此騷亂為1989年以來最為嚴重的一次。
3月14日西藏僧侶走上Amdo Labrang街頭，西藏過去幾天進行了大規模示威行動，為20年來最大規模的抗議事件，14日西藏的三大寺廟已被中國警方包圍，此圖為手機所攝。（路透攝）
拉薩街頭的軍車和藏人（3月14日）
達賴喇嘛、美、歐關注拉薩局勢
流亡海外的西藏精神領袖達賴喇嘛表示，他對拉薩的局勢深表關注。美國歐盟呼籲中國克制。
達賴喇嘛發表聲明，呼籲中國停止在那裡"使用野蠻的暴力"。
西藏首府拉薩已連續數日發生大規模藏人抗議活動，最新報導說，有人焚燒警車和商店，目擊者稱在拉薩聽到了槍聲。
目擊者對BBC記者說，一些當地居民現在也加入了抗議活動。
另一名目擊者則對BBC表示，300名僧人週三在打算離開色拉寺曾與阻擋他們離開的武警戰士發生衝突，至少有一名僧人被武警打翻在地。
美國政府呼籲北京保持克制，並同達賴喇嘛對話。它表示，中國必須尊重西藏文化。
正在布魯塞爾召開歐盟首腦會議的歐盟各國領導人呼籲克制。
有報導說，西藏拉薩的示威者和武警的衝突已經至少造成兩人死亡。
拉薩的抗議示威活動已經持續了好幾天，據說這是過去20年以來西藏規模最大的反北京政府示威。
有目擊者說，已經在拉薩街頭看到了坦克和傷者被用擔架抬走。
「國際聲援西藏運動」的一張照片上可看到武警。
「聽到槍聲」
此外，美國駐華大使館對在華美國公民發布的旅行公告說，"大使館已接到正在拉薩的美國公民的現場報告，有人聽到槍聲，併發現有暴力事件跡象。"
大使館通告建議美國公民避免前往可能發生抗議示威的地點，建議打算前往西藏的美國公民推遲其行程。。
一名住在拉薩市區的外國遊客說，她聽到了槍聲。這位不願意透露姓名的遊客對記者說，"是的，我們可以聽到槍聲。但現在已經很安靜了。"
她說，"我們也瞭解不多，我們被告知不要離開酒店。"
「情況很亂」
一名拉薩藏人通過電話對記者說，"現在外面的情況很混亂。"
他說："人們開始焚燒汽車、摩托車和公共汽車。到處都是濃煙，他們還扔石頭和砸窗戶。我們很害怕。"
另一名藏人則說，很多地方都有抗議活動。他還說，"不僅僅是僧人在抗議。現在，一些居民也加入了抗議行列。"
西藏流亡政府發言人在印度達蘭薩拉說，"我們呼籲國際社會勸說中國當局以溫和的方式對待這些示威。"
學者分析
BBC採訪：辜學武談藏人抗議為何升溫
對西藏問題有深入研究的德國波鴻大學東亞政治研究所所長辜學武對BBC表示，藏人的抗議活動在這個時刻升溫有兩個原因，「一個是達賴政府包括他本人，對中央政府與西藏流亡政府之間的長期談判進展進步不大表示深深失望」。
辜學武說，"從某種意義上說，達賴喇嘛的忍耐限度幾乎是到了極限，所以出現以前沒有出現的大規模暴動。"
他說，"西藏和其它地方藏人走上街頭抗議，與中國政府在西藏實施的政策並非很佳有關係"，"中國政府以經濟發展來促進藏人對中國的歸順的效果明顯沒有得到一個很強烈的支撐。"
此外，"隨著奧運的日益接近，西方對中國的壓力越來越大，包括國際輿論界對中國的壓力開始升溫，這些壓力主要有三， 一個是人權，一個是西藏問題，一個是環保。"
辜學武說，在這樣情況下出現的西藏問題升溫，並不令人感到意外。
Tibet in turmoil as riots grip capital
(CNN) -- Opponents of Chinese rule in Tibet set fire to vehicles and shops on Friday as tear gas filled the streets and gunfire rang out in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, according to witnesses and human rights groups.
Tibetans throw stones at army vehicles as a car burns on a street in the capital Lhasa.
1 of 3 The protests -- initiated by Buddhist monks -- have been growing since Monday, the anniversary of the failed 1959 Tibetan uprising against Beijing rule. Tibet, an autonomous province, has long sought independence from China.
Roughly 1,000 people hurled rocks and concrete at security forces and military trucks pushing back riot police, a witness told CNN.
A Tibetan guide said armed police backed by armored vehicles were blocking major intersections in the city center and that an entire street in a busy shopping area outside the Jokhang temple "seemed to be on fire." The Associated Press reported.
He said he had heard "cannon fire" and that tear gas had been used against protesters.
In a statement, the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader and the head of the Tibetan government in exile, said he was "deeply concerned" by the developing situation and said the protests were "a manifestation of the deep-rooted resentment of the Tibetan people" under Chinese rule.
Chinese authorities have blamed the Dalai Lama, exiled since 1959, for the unrest.
"I appeal to the Chinese leadership to stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue. I also urge my fellow Tibetans not to resort to violence," the Dalai Lama said.
Protesters appeared to be targeting shops and vehicles owned by Han Chinese, the predominant ethnic group in China. Watch how ethnic Chinese have been caught in the unrest »
A main market in the capital was set on fire, and some Tibetans were hospitalized with serious injuries, according to Kate Saunders, a spokeswoman for the International Campaign for Tibet, which promotes human rights and democratic freedom in Tibet.
Friday's violence started when police tried to stop a peaceful protest by monks at the Ramoche Temple, Tashi Choephel of the Tibetan Center for Human Rights told CNN from Dharamsala, India.
"The monks from the Ramoche Temple on the north side of Lhasa, they started a peaceful demonstration and they were blocked by the People's Armed Police," Choephel said.
Speaking to AP, a witness said hundreds of monks and civilians were involved in the protests, setting police cars and army vehicles alight.
A photo e-mailed to CNN from a source in Lhasa showed what appeared to be Chinese military vehicles containing security forces armed with riot shields at the Ramoche Temple. Watch reports of rioting in Tibet »
Saunders said violence broke out as bystanders joined the protest. "Apparently local people -- lay people -- got involved, and a police car was set on fire. This was followed by Tromsikhang Market being set on fire," she said from London.
The market has many Chinese traders. Saunders said Tibetans are concerned about the influx of Chinese into the area. Some ethnic Tibetan shopkeepers hung scarves outside their stores in an effort to spare them from the protesters' wrath, a witness reported.
Saunders said her organization had confirmed reports that some Tibetans had been hospitalized with serious injuries, though she didn't know the nature of the injuries or how many people were being treated.
A Han girl who spoke to CNN from Lhasa said she had been beaten by a group of Tibetans.
Indian police stop Tibetan marchers
"I am now in hospital with a bandage on my head," she said. "The trains are closed and I am not sure if I can take a plane back, or if I can reach the airport. All is chaotic now."
Another Lhasa resident, who also withheld his name, said his electricity and telephone service had been cut off. He spoke to CNN on his cell phone.
China continues to impose reporting restrictions in Tibet and the neighboring province of Xinjiang. CNN sought permission to enter Tibet on Friday morning Beijing time. So far, this permission has not been granted. CNN reporting on Tibet was being blacked out Friday in mainland China.
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing warned Americans in Tibet to avoid areas where demonstrations were taking place and to remain indoors.
"The Embassy has received first-hand reports from American citizens in the city who report gunfire and other indications of violence," the embassy said in a statement.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe in Washington issued a statement urging respect from the Chinese government.
"Beijing needs to respect Tibetan culture, needs to respect multi-ethnicity in their society," Johndroe said. "We regret the tensions between the ethnic groups and Beijing. The president has said consistently that Beijing needs to have a dialog with the Dalai Lama."
Meanwhile French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner says EU leaders have launched an appeal to China to show "restraint" in Tibet, AP said.
The unrest follows days of demonstrations in Tibet and neighboring India over Chinese rule in Tibet and comes less than five months before China is to stage the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Choephel told CNN that the Games were seen by campaigners as an opportunity to highlight "repression" and "human rights violations" inside Tibet.
On Thursday, two monks from the Drepung Monastery in Lhasa tried to kill themselves to protest Chinese rule, according to Radio Free Asia, a nonprofit corporation funded by the U.S. government.
Security forces also fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesting Tibetan monks near Lhasa on Tuesday, according to Radio Free Asia.
In India, authorities broke up a march Thursday by 100 Tibetan exiles who had planned to trek from the northern city of Dharamshala to Tibet's border in a "Free Tibet" protest.
