Five women have been killed while leaving a church service in southern Russia, media in the country is reporting.

Another five people were wounded during the shooting at the Orthodox Christian house of worship.

Tass news agency said the slaughter occurred outside a church in the town of Kizlyar in Dagestan.

The gunman shouted 'Allahu Akbar' during the shooting, according to an Orthodox priest.

Tass news agency said the slaughter occurred outside a church in the town of Kizlyar in Dagestan. Dagestan is a predominantly Muslim region between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea

The assailant was identified as a 22-year-old man local to the region, the TASS news agency said, citing the investigative committee. He has been reported dead. Left: Bodies covered by police after the slaughter. Right: A gun found at the scene

The agency cited Mayor Alexander Shuvalov as the source for the number of people killed and wounded.

A police source told Tass: 'The shooter was gunned down.'

The assailant was identified as a 22-year-old man local to the region, the TASS news agency said, citing the investigative committee. He has been reported dead.

He was shot and killed by security services who were on duty nearby, TASS said, adding that a hunting rifle, bullets and a knife were discovered on his person.

'An unknown man opened fire with a hunting rifle in Kizlyar, fatally wounding four women,' the regional internal affairs ministry said in a statement.

People stand by a victim's body after the shooting in southern Russia

A fifth woman died of her injuries in hospital, health ministry spokeswoman Zalina Mourtazalieva told TASS news agency.

Russian news agencies said the attack occurred as churchgoers celebrated Maslenitsa, a Christian holiday marking the last day before Lent according to the eastern Orthodox calendar.

Two of those hurt were reportedly security personnel.

Russian state-funded broadcaster RT reports that an eyewitness explained the shooting happened just outside a church.

Oksana told RT: 'There were a lot of people there, moms with little children, elderly people.

'I believe God saved us, not allowing the man to get inside the church.'

She added that the gunman was killed while trying to flee the scene.

According to RBK, an Orthodox priest said the perpetrator wore a beard and shouted 'Allahu Akbar' during the slaughter.

Father Pavel also told the paper the attacker was armed with a knife as well as a gun.

Media in the country have also reported that worshippers were celebrating the Maslenitsa festival, which marks the final week before Lent. Pictured: Stills from a video that appears to have been recorded close to the shooting

Dagestan is a predominantly Muslim region between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea.

Following two separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya, an Islamist insurgency spread to Dagestan.

Kizlyar is a city of around 50,000 people.

Dagestan is one of the poorest and most unstable regions of Russia.

Islamist rebels from the region are known to have travelled to Syria to join Islamic State.

In 2015, IS declared it had established a 'franchise' in the North Caucasus.

It has claimed a number of attacks on police in Dagestan in the last couple of years that have involved guns and explosives, as local security forces battle a simmering Islamist insurgency.

Sunday's shooting comes exactly one month before the March 18 presidential election that Vladimir Putin is almost guaranteed to win.