( CNN ) -- An 18-year-old Tibetan monk set himself on fire in a monastery in China 's Sichuan province , according to advocacy organizations and the Tibetan government in exile . The teenager , identified as Lobsan Lobzin , self-immolated , shouted slogans and attempted to march towards the local government 's office in the town of Ngaba around noon Tuesday , according to the Central Tibetan Administration ( CTA ) , which functions as the government of Tibetans outside the Chinese territory . It was unclear what Lobzin shouted before he died , according to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy , a group based in India . My Take : Why the Dalai Lama can not condemn Tibetan self-immolations . Lobzin became the 44th Tibetan to self-immolate since 2009 , according to the CTA . Self-immolation has become a common form of protest for Tibetans who want autonomy from China . The local police office and county government did not comment on the incident when contacted by CNN . The Ministry of Public Security also did not respond to CNN 's request for information . After Lobzin 's death , Chinese forces headed towards the monastery , but local Tibetans blocked a bridge to prevent the police from a possible confrontation , according to CTA and several Tibetan advocacy groups . Lobzin had been at the Tsodun Kirti Monastery in Barkham County since he was young , according to the group , Free Tibet . He was described as being `` one of the best students '' at the monastery . An act of faith , desperation or protest . Earlier in March , two other monks from the same monastery set themselves on fire . The group , Free Tibet , has described the self-immolations as `` a fundamental rejection of China 's occupation . '' Timeline of Tibetan protests in China . The Dalai Lama has remained silent on the issue of self-immolations , refusing to answer questions earlier this year about whether monks should stop setting themselves on fire in protest . Costica Bradatan , an assistant professor in the Honors College at Texas Tech University , observed that the Tibetan self-immolators were young and even teens , `` which indicates that the new generation of politically aware Tibetans might have lost patience with the Dalai Lama 's nonviolent political philosophy . `` In essence , these self-immolations are an extreme form of political self-expression . They are performed as part of a struggle for recognition , as an autonomous political community , '' he wrote in a CNN opinion piece . Bradatan noted that the self-immolation of a young Tunisian street vendor in 2010 sparked an uprising that spread throughout the Arab world , yet dozens of Tibetan self-immolations have yielded little political results . My Take : Dalai Lama should condemn self-immolations .
18-year - old Tibetan monk set himself on fire in a protest Tuesday . Wang Lobzin became the 44th Tibetan to self - immolate since 2009 . Self - portraits have a common form of protest against Beijing .