At least six people were killed in a suicide bomb attack on a police station in Dagestan in Russia's North Caucasus Wednesday, DPA reported.
Another 14 people were injured in the attack when the bomber detonated his explosives-laden car in the courtyard of the police station in the republic's capital Makhachkala, an official told the Interfax news agency.
Security guards however prevented the man from driving inside by ramming his car with a police vehicle, preventing a possible bloodbath. The guards were killed.
Many police officers were in the vicinity at the time of the attack due to a change in duty shifts.
Civilians were among the injured, including a woman and youth, according to a spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Makhachkala
Large sections of the police station were destroyed in the blast.
The violence in the volatile region that also includes the republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia, has increased significantly in recent months. Last year, well over 1,000 people died in fighting between Islamist rebels, criminal gangs and security forces in North Caucasus, according to the Kremlin.