'Seven dead' in blasts in Russia's Dagestan region

At least seven people have been reported killed in two explosions on the outskirts of Makhachkala, capital of Russia's Dagestan region.

The explosions happened late on Thursday near a police post in the city, local media reports say.

Medical and police officials said more were injured in the blasts.

Dagestan and neighbouring Russian republics have been plagued by violence in recent years between Islamist militants and Russian security forces.

The explosions happened at a checkpoint on the road to the city of Astrakhan.

"Human body fragments are scattered at the checkpoint. There are a lot of them there," a local police source told the Russian Interfax news agency.

The explosions occurred about 15 minutes apart, but the construction of the bombs and how they were set off was still under investigation, Interior Ministry spokesman Vyacheslav Gasanov told the Associated Press news agency.

Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim, multi-ethnic republic which borders Chechnya, has seen some of the worst militant violence in the North Caucasus in recent years.