Two attackers were killed in retaliatory firing by security personnel, the TV channel said, adding that a blast preceded the firing.

Gwadar’s deputy commissioner and police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Gwadar is located near the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial oil shipping route in the Arabian Sea.

The deep-water port is key to the multi-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that also encompasses roads and energy projects and is part of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.

China has invested heavily under its Belt and Road Initiative in mineral-rich Balochistan, including developing Gwadar, despite a decades-long separatist insurgency in the area.

Chinese targets have previously come under attack by several rebel groups in Pakistan.

In August, gunmen attacked a convoy of Chinese workers in Gwadar with the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army claiming responsibility for the attack.