Turkish police have killed a suspected suicide bomber outside government offices in the capital Ankara.

Reports said the suspect failed to detonate his explosives and set off a security alarm inside the justice ministry at about 0615GMT.

He was seen running out of the building after resisting arrest but was gunned down by police soon after. He died a the scene.

There is no indication of the motive of the alleged militant.

The area, in the busy administrative centre of the city, was cordoned off as bomb squad agents searched the man.

Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, questioned by reporters, refused to comment on the incident, saying only that “an investigation is under way”.

Crackdown

Turkey has been clamping down on militant groups, some with suspected links to al-Qaeda.

A year ago a leftist group claimed responsibility for a bomb explosion in a hotel in Ankara where US President George Bush was due to stay, before a Nato summit.

Turkey was rocked by a series of deadly explosions in Istanbul in November 2003.

Sixty-two people and hundreds were injured when two synagogues, the British consulate, and a branch of the HSBC bank were targeted by suicide bombers.