Multiple explosions and sustained gunfire rang out as gunmen stormed a police station in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi this evening.

Police have blocked traffic on the main road through the city and heavy security forces, including paramilitaries, have arrived at the scene.

Footage broadcast by local television network Geo News shows dozens of police and paramilitaries cordoning off the compound, which houses several security offices, including the city’s police headquarters.

Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reported that heavy gunfire was continuing between police and attackers who reportedly managed to enter the police headquarters.

Dozens of police officers and civilians are reportedly trapped on different floors of the five-story building.

Local media reported that gunmen stormed the building, citing eight to ten assailants.

Speaking to Reuters, Sindh provincial government spokesman Murtaza Wahab confirmed the incident but could not provide details.

An AFP correspondent reported that ambulances and police vehicles rushed to the scene of the attack.

Karachi Police Chief Javed Alam Odho confirmed to local media that the police station was attacked and that at least one police officer was injured and taken to hospital.

The attack follows a suicide bombing at a mosque inside police headquarters in the northwestern city of Peshawar that killed more than 100 people earlier this month.