The attack may have been motivated by robbery because the Japanese consulate’s employees had stopped by a bank before they were ambushed. — Photo by AP

KARACHI: Gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a Japanese consular vehicle in Karachi on Thursday, wounding two of the mission's Pakistani employees.

The attack may have been an attempted robbery because the three Pakistanis in the car had stopped by a bank to get cash before they were ambushed, police official Javed Akbar Riaz said. The two wounded men were in stable condition.

Kazuhiro Kawase, a spokesman at Japan's Foreign Ministry in Tokyo, confirmed the shooting and said no Japanese diplomatic officials were in the car. Police in Karachi said the vehicle's license plates indicated it belonged to the Japanese consulate.

''We are still confirming what sort of damage there was to the vehicle or what sort of injuries people inside might have sustained.'' Kawase said.

Japan and Pakistan have good relations, and Tokyo has been generous in providing aid to the Muslim-majority nation. — AP