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Three assailants were also killed during the consulate's assault in the Red High Security Zone of the city, according to a spokesman for the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.
The Liberation Army of Balochs, a separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack in a tweet including a photo of three strangers and the following message: "Karachi: Fidayeen of the BLA attacked the embassy of China to Karachi. " CNN has no independent confirmation of the group's involvement.
Security was immediately reinforced at the consulates in Karachi, CNN's Imran Ismael, governor of Sindh, told CNN.
According to Seemi Jamali, emergency chief at Jinnah Hospital, two of the four victims were uniformed policemen. No Chinese nationals were among the dead, said the hospital.
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Ahsan Jamil, a portfolio manager of shares of an investment company whose office is in front of the Chinese consulate, told CNN that the firing had started around 9:15 pm local time ( 23:15 ET, Thursday evening) and lasted between 30 and 45 minutes.
He added that the area is surrounded by schools and that school staff refused parents because of gunshots and explosions, otherwise there would be "no other sign panic ". He said he saw police cars heading towards the area.
When journalist Amir Latif, of the Turkish Anadolu news agency, spoke to CNN, he could still hear gunshots.
"(The consulate is in) a very heavily guarded area, the firing continues and we can hear small explosions, suggesting that the attackers are still engaged with the security forces," said Latif.
"The shooting continues and the police made no official statement, but eyewitnesses said that there were three to four attackers, heavily armed attackers who attempted to storm the Chinese Consulate and that we can always hear gunshots, "said Latif.
It is not known whether the terrorists were inside or near the consulate.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi later confirmed that the operation to secure the Chinese complex was over.
"Our Chinese friends and officials – about 21 people – are all safe," he said at a press briefing.
"The zone is clear: Those who want to prevent peace in this country have been brilliantly blocked by the young security agents of this country.
"The friendship between Pakistan and China can not be disrupted.Pakistan and China have common security attempts to prevent such attempts to destroy the work on which both countries are working."
He added that he hoped to talk to his Chinese counterpart "soon".
The Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) has been conducting a low-level separatist insurgency against the state for nearly two decades.
The organization, which grew out of anger over the state's monopoly on mineral resources, had previously killed and kidnapped Chinese engineers working in the province.
Baluchistan is at the heart of the multi-billion dollar cooperation agreement called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Bard Wilkinson of CNN contributed to this report.
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