Thirteen people were injured in an explosion in the republic of Dagestan in the North Caucasus, police said.

The explosion occurred after an unknown assailant driving a car rammed the gates of a military unit in the town of Buinaksk.

"An unknown assailant driving a Zhiguli car rammed the gates of a military unit of the 136th motorized rifle brigade deployed in Buinaksk. An explosion followed. Six people with burns and seven people with injuries of varying degrees of gravity have been taken to town hospitals," a police spokesman said.

The Zhiguli driver reportedly died. No one else was reported killed.

Sporadic terrorist attacks and militant clashes are common in Russia's largely Muslim North Caucasus republics, especially Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia.

The Kremlin has pledged to wage "a ruthless fight" against militant groups but also acknowledged a need to tackle unemployment, organized crime, clan rivalry and corruption as causes of the ongoing violence in the region.

MAKHACHKALA, September 5 (RIA Novosti)