The 'People's Liberation Army' (Chinese military) fired artillery shells to quell the Tibetan uprising in Lhasa in March 1959. By October of that year, 87,000 Tibetans in Lhasa had been killed. The 'People's Liberation Army' (Chinese military) fired artillery shells to quell the Tibetan uprising in Lhasa in March 1959. By October of that year, 87,000 Tibetans in Lhasa had been killed.