Twelve people were killed and more than 20 injured in two blasts late Thursday that rocked a police post in Russia's restive Caucasus region of Dagestan, Ria-Novosti news agency reported.

Russian anti-terror special forces aim their weapons at a target during a military operation in the Dagestan region in 2010. Twelve people were killed and more than 20 injured in two blasts late Thursday that rocked a police post in Russia's restive Caucasus region of Dagestan, Ria-Novosti news agency reported.

"Twelve people died, including three civilians as well as three employees of the Russian ministry of emergency situations, and the other victims were all policemen," a spokesman for the interior ministry told the news agency.

The first blast by a suicide bomber occurred at 10:00 pm (1820 GMT) near a police traffic control post in Dagestan's capital Makhatchkala, a police source told the news agency.

The second blast took place when rescuers came to the site. About 20 cars were damaged, Russian news agencies said.

Russia is fighting a simmering Islamist insurgency in the Caucasus, mostly in Dagestan and Ingushetia.