(Bloomberg) -- The Chinese consulate in Karachi was assaulted by gunmen on Friday in an attack that killed at least two policemen guarding the diplomatic mission in Pakistan’s largest city and financial hub.

There was an exchange of gunshots outside the consulate, Adil Rasheed, police spokesman, told Bloomberg by phone without giving further details. Anwar Kazmi, a spokesman for the Edhi Pakistani rescue agency, confirmed the casualties. Chinese consulate official Ghazal Javed said by phone that staff were stuck inside the building. Witnesses also heard a blast and black smoke was seen rising from the city’s upmarket Clifton area that’s home to a number of diplomatic missions.

The incident is the second major attack this year on Chinese officials in Karachi, a megacity of at least 15 million people in a country that is one of the key nations in China’s Belt and Road initiatives. Beijing is financing power plant and road projects valued at $60 billion in Pakistan. China’s embassy in Islamabad, the capital, declined to comment.

“This attack is meant to drive up some fear into the Chinese,” said Ikram Sehgal, a former military officer and chairman of Pathfinder Group, Pakistan’s largest private security company. “This is very clearly the intention.”

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