MOSCOW, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- A suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden vehicle rammed the gates of a military unit in Dagestan, killing five people Sunday, police said.
While officials were en route to investigate the explosion, a second blast shook Buinaksk, but no one was injured, RIA Novosti reported.
Reports of the number of people injured were conflicting, RIA Novosti said, from 33 to 39.
Police said the suicide car rammed the gates of the military unit, part of the 136th motorized rifle brigade.
Servicemen in Buinaksk come under terrorist attacks frequently, the news agency said. In July, three people died when the 136th motorized rifle brigade came under fire.
Sporadic attacks are common in Russia's largely Muslim North Caucasus republics, particularly Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia, officials said.
Officials in Moscow pledged to conduct "a ruthless fight" against militant groups while acknowledging they must address unemployment, organized crime, clan rivalry and corruption as underlying reasons for ongoing violence in the region.
