Podgorica (Montenegro) (AFP) - A sniper has shot dead a prisoner in broad daylight in a yard at Montenegro's highest security jail, officials in the Balkan country said Friday.

The victim, named only by the initials D.Dj, was shot in the chest on Thursday while walking in the grounds of the main jail in the capital Podgorica, prison authorities said in a statement.

The prisoner died of his injuries later on Thursday, the statement said, adding that he had been jailed for extortion in 2014.

"Clearly this is a clash of criminal groups and this brutal murder requires the maximum engagement of all institutions involved in implementing justice," the statement said.

Local media identified the victim as Dalibor Djuric, saying he was the tenth victim of feuds between Montenegro's drugs gangs in the last two years.

Earlier this month, police arrested nine men suspected of belonging to a drugs gang responsible for a surge in violence in Montenegro's top tourist destination, Kotor, a coastal UNESCO World Heritage Site.