Two dozen Tibetans have set themselves on fire in western China this month in a dramatic acceleration of the protests against authoritarian Chinese rule, activist groups say.

Another Tibetan has set himself on fire in western China to protest government policies while thousands marched in another part of China to show support for their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, a report said.

A senior official in Chinese-ruled Tibet is ordering heightened security in Buddhist monasteries and along key roadways as the government tries to prevent protests that erupted in neighboring Tibetan communities from spreading.

A rights group has called on Beijing to use restraint after a Tibetan set himself on fire in southwest China on Saturday and police allegedly fired on hundreds of locals, possibly killing one.

State media confirmed Sunday that two former Tibetan monks set themselves on fire in far western China, in what an activist group said was the latest in a series of self-immolation protests against Chinese rule.

One of Tibet's most senior exiled Buddhist leaders, the Karmapa Lama, appealed on Wednesday for Tibetans in China not to set themselves on fire, saying he hoped they found more constructive ways to advance their cause.

The desperate conditions Tibetans face under Beijing's rigid controls in what amounted to “cultural genocide” are behind the spate of self-immolations in southwest China, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said on Monday.

A Tibetan rights group said Sunday that around 10,000 Tibetans were reportedly gathered around a monastery in western China where a nun set herself on fire last week in apparent protest against Chinese rule.

Chinese police have arrested 17 people for running guns into ethnically Tibetan parts of the country from northern Myanmar, and have seized a small number of guns and bullets, state media said on Wednesday.

The Dalai Lama on Wednesday fasted and led prayers in honor of nine Tibetans who set themselves on fire in apparent protest against China's tight grip over Buddhist practices in Tibet.