Self-immolations on the rise in Tibet (Aljazeera)

A Tibetan monk set himself on fire last week while shouting slogans calling for the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet during a religious ritual watched by hundreds, the advocacy group International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) reported last week.

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The most recent immolation has become the tenth this year. Nine others have set themselves on fire since March in Sichuan's Aba prefecture [...].

At least five have died of their wounds, including Tenzin Wangmo, a 20-year-old nun, who set herself alight last month while reportedly calling out for the end of Chinese rule and the return of the exiled Dalai Lama to Tibet.

China, which has asserted its jurisdiction over Tibet since occupying the Himalayan region in the 1950s, claims that the immolations are "terrorism in disguise" propagated by the Dalai Lama and outside Tibetan independence groups.

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