At least 10 people were killed and many injured in the worst pro-independence street protests to rock Tibetan capital Lhasa in two decades as China struggled to quell the monks-led revolt that reverberated worldwide and threatened to cast a shadow on 2008 Olympics here. "The victims are all innocent civilians and they have been burnt to death," a local official said in Lhasa.

The Chinese head of the Tibetan government vowed stern action against the rioters, while authorities asked the protesters to surrender by Monday or face punishment.

"We will deal harshly with these criminals in accordance with the law," Champa Phutsok, Chairman of Tibetan government, told reporters here, adding the "plot is doomed to failure." After a day of rioting, streets in Lhasa remained virtually deserted today with burnt cars, motorcycles and bicycles strewn all over and smoke billowing from them.

While authorities said that the situation was "in the process of calming down" in Lhasa, fresh protests erupted on China's northwest Gansu province near Tibet with police using tear gas to disperse the monks that gathered near Labrang Monasty, London-based Free Tibet campaign claimed.

Monks had held a similar protest yesterday in the province which has a large ethnic Tibetan population.

Protests were held at the UN headquarters, in front of the Chinese consulate in Sydney and outside the UN office in Nepal today as part of the stir launched to mark the 49th anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising against the 57-year Chinese rule in the Himalayan region which turned violent on the sixth day yesterday.