Russian officials say a high-ranking provincial government official in the troubled region of Dagestan has been killed.

State-owned news agency RIA quotes an interior ministry official as saying unidentified gunmen opened fire early Thursday on the car of Garun Kurbanov. Kurbanov is the press secretary for the leader of the Dagestan Republic .

His driver was also killed.

Dagestan is a predominantly Muslim region in southern Russia, plagued by violence linked to an Islamist insurgency. Separatists in neighboring Chechnya fought two major wars against the Russian government. Although the major fighting ended about a decade ago, attacks on government targets continue almost daily.