Two suicide bombings hit a military base in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan early Sunday morning, killing five people and injuring 39 others, Russia's Ria Novosti news agency reported, citing a security official.

Earlier reports, quoting officials from the republic's interior ministry, put the death toll at three and the number of injured at 20.

The first blast happened as a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-stuffed Lada car through the gate of the 136th motorized rifle brigade's military base in the town of Buinaksk, leaving at least three people dead and 26 wounded, a source from Dagestan's Interior Ministry was quoted as saying.

Many of the injured were in a serious condition, the source added.

The bomber died in the explosion, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

A second blast occurred when rescuers and investigators rushed to the scene, the Interfax news agency reported.

These are the latest of a series of attacks against targets representing the Russian government in the region.

Dagestan's Minister of National Policy, Foreign Relations and Information Bekmurza Bekmurzayev was wounded Saturday when his car exploded in the regional capital of Makhchkala. His driver was killed and his bodyguard wounded in the bombing.

Violence is common in Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus republics, especially Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, with militants frequently targeting police and officials as representatives of Russian authorities.