Gunmen on Wednesday shot at the vehicle of the leader of the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia in an apparent assassination attempt but he was not harmed, Russian news reports said.

The Interfax news agency said that two bodyguards were wounded in the attack as Abkhaz leader Alexander Ankvab was being driven into work in the main city Sukhumi.

Russia recognised Abkhazia as independent in the wake of Moscow's brief war with Tbilisi in 2008. But with the exception of a handful of far-flung states, the rest of the world still regards it as part of Georgian territory.

Ankvab was elected leader of Abkhazia in August last year after the death in May of Sergei Bagapsh who led the breakaway region from 2005. Ankvab and other top Abkhaz officials have regularly been targeted by attacks in recent years.