The paramilitary police have been stationing in Aba and Ruoergai counties where Tibetans reside and government officials have been monitoring monasteries in the area on a 24-hour basis, the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said.

The Hong Kong-based watchdog said mobile phone services near the monasteries were jammed and messaging service was disabled from Wednesday to Friday last week, the first three days of the Tibetan New Year, Losar, while fixed-line telephone communications in the area have also been disabled since last week.

China Mobile, which operates the mobile phone network in the area, said they are upgrading their system but failed to explain why only the Tibetan region was affected, the center said.

Calls Monday to fixed-line numbers of the Aba government, police, shops and even the phone number inquiry system 114 were all ringing busy signals.

Two staff at China Telecom, which operates fixed lines in the area, said separately in Shanghai and the provincial capital Chengdu office they have no idea about the connection problem.

The situation in China's Tibetan regions is in the world spotlight as March marks the first anniversary of an antigovernment riot in Tibet that led to 19 people killed and hundreds put behind bars.

Nongovernmental groups claimed as many as 200 were killed in the police crackdown.

A young man believed to be a monk set himself on fire last week in Aba, reportedly to protest the government on a group prayer session.

The government said the man was sent to hospital, but witnesses said police fired three shots at the burning man before taking him away. The center said there is no record of the man being hospitalized.

==Kyodo