Gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Pakistan's southwestern port city of Gwadar on Saturday, killing at least one guard and battling security forces inside, officials and the army said.

Baluchistan Home Minister Ziaullah Langove said most guests were evacuated from the five-star Pearl Continental Hotel, which helicopters circled as fighting was under way. Police said that in addition to the guard killed by the attackers, at least two other people were wounded but there was no final casualty total.

The military said at least three gunmen killed a guard at the entrance to the hotel when they entered. Security forces cordoned off the area and cornered the attackers in a staircase leading to the top floor, the military said in a statement.