China faced one of its most serious political crises in two decades as Tibetans resentful of Beijing rule set fire to swaths of Lhasa. The army responded by sending armed personnel carriers onto the streets.

Angry Tibetans attacked ethnic Han Chinese and gunshots echoed in the streets as security forces tried to restore order. Bodies were seen lying in the streets.

The anti-Chinese unrest, which has spread beyond Lhasa to far-flung Tibetan monasteries beyond the region’s borders, is precisely what China wants to avoid as it seeks to present a stable and prosperous face to the world for the Olympics in August.

The People’s Liberation Army sent armoured personnel carriers and troops into the streets of Lhasa to curb running battles between angry young Tibetans and ethnic Han. From his home in exile in India, the Dalai Lama called on Beijing not to use brute force to quash the demonstrations.

Witnesses said they saw six bodies in the streets tonight, although this could not be independently confirmed.

In the Barkhor market that winds around the Jokhang temple, Tibet’s holiest site, they reported the bodies of two Tibetan men and two Tibetan women. The body of a Tibetan man was seen in the Lugu district and a Tibetan woman lay dead on Qingnian Road, near the city centre. They said all appeared to have been shot but no monks were seen among the dead.

Many ethnic Han Chinese, a minority in Tibet, were wounded in attacks by Tibetans hurling rocks and bricks as they vented their anger against Beijing rule. Residents said a number of Han had been killed but no figures were available as the city was engulfed in chaos.

One Han Chinese was stabbed by a Tibetan directly in front of the institute of traditional Tibetan medicine, a witness said. The Lhasa Municipal People’s Hospital said nine of the wounded were receiving treatment for injuries ranging from stab wounds to head injuries.

One nurse said: “We have given people stitches and others have been bandaged. Most of the injured were Han Chinese.” Long after night fell, fires blazed across the city as mobs of angry young Tibetans set light to shops and cars owned by Han Chinese. “There is smoke everywhere still, even this late at night,” said one resident.

The upsurge of violence follows four days of demonstrations by lamas from monasteries around the Tibetan capital demanding greater freedom of religion before the Olympic Games as well as independence for the deeply Buddhist Himalayan region and the return of the Dalai Lama.

The violence escalated at around 11am when monks from the 7th century Ramoche monastery staged a demonstration. Police tried to stop the lamas from racing onto the streets of Lhasa and a police car posted outside the monastery gate was set on fire as hundreds of Tibetans then rallied around the monks.

One resident of the old city near the monastery told The Times: “It’s very dangerous. Tibetans are fighting the Han people in the street outside. I can’t talk because I’m afraid.” Residents said the police withdrew from the city centre as the violence escalated.

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