Three suicide bombers on Friday morning attacked the Chinese consulate in Pakistan‘s southern city of Karachi but were neutralized before entering the building.

According to the city’s Police chief, Amir Shaikh, at least two police officers were killed in the attack which the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), an ethnic insurgent group has claimed responsibility for.

Shaikh said the three attackers came in a car filled with explosives but failed to get inside the heavily fortified compound after a fierce gun battle broke out, leading to their death.

“They tried to get inside but the Rangers and police killed one of the terrorists. There were three attackers and all three have been killed. They could not even get in the compound. They tried to get into the visa section,” Shaikh said.

The Pakistani Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said all Chinese staff at the consulate were safe from the attack by BLA, which has for years opposed Chinese exploitation of natural resources in the country’s southwest. 

The insurgents are based in the southwestern province of Baluchistan where Chinese money has funded the development of a deep-water port in the city of Gwadar.

Friday’s attack is seen as the most prominent attack in Pakistan against China, its neighbuor and ally which is pouring billions of dollars into the country as part of its vast Belt and Road initiative.

In August, a BLA  suicide bomber attacked a bus conveying Chinese mining workers in Baluchistan, wounding five people.