Gunmen Kill Spokesman of Dagestan Leader

Unidentified gunmen on Thursday killed the spokesman of the leader of Russia's unrest-plagued Caucasus region of Dagestan, investigators said.

The attackers fired on Garun Kurbanov, the head of the press service of Dagestan leader Magomedsalam Magomedov just after 8:00 am (04:00 GMT), the Russian investigative committee said in a statement.

"He died from his wounds on the scene. His driver was also killed," the statement said, adding the gunmen then disappeared from the area using an escape car.

It appeared that Kurbanov was emerging from his home in the main Dagestan city of Makhachkala and walking towards his official vehicle which was parked outside.

Like the other regions of Russia's largely Muslim Northern Caucasus, Dagestan has been battling almost daily attacks by Islamist insurgents which have claimed dozens of lives among security forces and civilians.

Kurbanov was a senior official who had served in the Russian information ministry from 2000-2004 as well as information minister of Dagestan from 2008. He was named Magomedov's spokesman in April 2010.