Two 23-year-old Tibetan men have died in restive areas of western China after separate self-immolation protests against Chinese rule, reports said. Kunchok Phelgyal, a monk, died after he set fire to himself in front of the main assembly hall of the Sumdo Monastery of Ruo'ergai, or Dzoege township, in Aba county of the western province of Sichuan, London-based Free Tibet and other exile groups quoted witnesses as saying late Saturday.

"May Tibetans in Tibet and in exile be reunited!" the monk was quoted as shouting by the India-based Tibet Post International while he sat with hands folded in prayer after setting himself alight.

"He died at the scene and his body is in the monastery where monks are praying for him," Free Tibet said in a press release on Saturday. Pema Dorjee also died late Saturday after a self-immolation in front of the doors to the Shitsang Monastery in Luchu, or Kanlho county, in the western province of Gansu, exile groups and US-based Radio Free Asia reported.

Copyright Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 2012