Bombing Reported in Tibet

BEIJING — A bomb possibly set by Tibetan independence advocates damaged a municipal building in a town in eastern Tibet this week, according to a report on Friday by Free Tibet, an advocacy group based in London.

The bombing took place at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, when there was apparently no one inside the building, the group said in statement. It said the words “Tibet’s independence” had been scrawled on a wall of the building, located in the town of Gama, or Karma in Tibetan, in the prefecture of Changdu.

Free Tibet,which has a network of informants in Tibet and Tibetan-populated areas in neighboring provinces of China, did not specify the source of its information about the bombing and cautioned that it had not been able to confirm some of the details.

Such acts of violence are rare in Tibet, where Chinese authorities have maintained a harsh repression of any sentiment favoring independence and Tibet's spiritual leader-in-exile, the Dalai Lama.  

An official in Changdu reached by telephone said there was no report of any bombing.

So far this year, Free Tibet has reported self-immolations by 10 Tibetans to protest Chinese policies. All the incidents — by monks, former monks and a nun — have taken place in a Tibetan area of Sichuan Province, east of Changdu.

Source Credit: New York Times