Two suspected separatist Kurdish rebels were killed when a fuel tanker they were planning to ram into a military outpost in a suicide attack exploded before they could approach, officials said Sunday. The rebels drove the tanker toward the Karsilar outpost in the eastern province of Tunceli late Saturday, but were stopped by guards who fired at it. The tanker caught fire and exploded, an official from the local governor's office said. He was speaking on condition of anonymity because of rules that bar civil servants from speaking to journalists.
The militants had hijacked the tanker earlier at gunpoint, the official said. There was confusion, however, over the identity of one of the alleged militants. Private Dogan news agency said the driver of the hijacked vehicle may have been forced to drive the tanker toward the outpost, and been killed alongside the militant in the explosion.