Militants storm Pakistan's Gwadar port, all attackers killed: official

Militants armed with guns and bombs attacked Pakistan's strategic Gwadar port, key to the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, with eight attackers shot dead by security forces, the chief minister of Balochistan province has said.

The militants stormed the complex in the rugged southwestern province which houses offices of different government departments, intelligence agencies and paramilitary forces, said Saeed Ahmed Umrani, a government commissioner on Wednesday.

"Attackers carried out many blasts," he told Reuters, adding that it was followed with a gun attack. He said the army and police were responding to the attackers.

All eight gunmen who attacked Pakistan's Gwadar port on Wednesday have been killed, said Sarfraz Bugti, the chief minister of Balochistan province, where the port is located.

China has invested heavily in mineral-rich Balochistan, including developing Gwadar, despite a decades-long insurgency.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most prominent of several militant groups in Balochistan, claimed responsibility for the assault in a statement, saying its militants attacked Pakistan intelligence agencies' offices.

The BLA has previously been involved in attacks on Pakistani and Chinese interests in the region and elsewhere.

Pakistan's military and interior ministry did not give any details on the attack.

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

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

In August, gunmen attacked a convoy of Chinese workers in Gwadar, an operation also claimed by the BLA.