LHASA - HERE is a timeline of recent unrest that has hit Tibet and Tibetan regions of western China, starting March 10.
March 10: As many as 300 monks marched to the center of Lhasa in Tibet from Drepung monastery to commemorate the anniversary of a Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. Nine monks also shouted slogans near a main temple in central Lhasa.
March 13: Monks start a hunger strike and there are two attempted suicides as Lhasa's three biggest monasteries were sealed off by thousands of soldiers and police.
March 14: Protests led by Buddhist monks turned violent, with shops and vehicles torched and gunshots echoing through the streets of the ancient capital, Lhasa.
March 16: Violence in Tibet spills over into neighboring provinces where Tibetan protesters defied a Chinese government crackdown. Protests were reported in Sichuan and Qinghai provinces and in western Gansu province. All are home to sizable Tibetan populations.
March 20: China blankets Tibetan areas outside of Tibet with troops, where more than half of China's 5.4 million Tibetans live.
The government says at least 22 people died in Lhasa violence.
Tibetan rights groups say nearly 140 Tibetans were killed, including 19 in Gansu province. -- AP