Pakistani Taliban responsible for Karachi airport attacks

Karachi: Pakistan's security forces said on Monday they have relaunched a military operation at Karachi airport as gunfire resumed several hours after they announced the end of a militant siege that left 24 dead.

“We have relaunched the operation and called in additional troops," said Sibtain Rizvi, spokesman for the Rangers paramilitary force, adding that one police officer had been injured in the firing.

An AFP reporter at the scene said gunshots could be heard inside the airport and that rangers and elite commandos were rushing inside.

The initial assault at the Jinnah International Airport began late Sunday and raged until dawn, when the military said that all 10 militants had been killed.

Equipped with suicide vests, grenades and rocket launchers, they had battled security forces in one of the most brazen attacks in years in Pakistan's biggest city. Among the 14 victims were security personnel and four airport workers.

Gunmen attacked one of Pakistan's biggest airports on Sunday and at least 24 people were killed, including all 10 of the attackers, media reported.

The attack on Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan's sprawling commercial hub of 18 million people, took place as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government tries to engage Pakistani Taliban militants in negotiations to end years of fighting.

Gun battles went on for several hours and television pictures showed fire raging at the airport as ambulances ferried casualties away, but by dawn on Monday, the army said the airport had been secured.

"(The attackers) were confined to two areas and eliminated," the Dawn newspaper cited military spokesman Major-General Asim Bajwa as saying.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Pakistani Taliban militants, allied with but separate from the Afghan Taliban, are battling to overthrow the Pakistani state and impose their hardline vision of Islamist rule.

Earlier, officials said all flights had been diverted.

Peace talks between the government and the Pakistani Taliban have failed in recent months, dampening hopes of reaching a negotiated settlement with the insurgency, which continues attacks against government and security targets.

The attack came days after a peace process between the government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan broke down and a ceasefire announced by the TTP was called off.

Since then there has also been a major break in the TTP with the powerful Mehsud group announcing their separation from the militant outfit led by Maulana Fazlullah.

The Mehsud group commanders had warned of resuming attacks against the government and security personnel and installations.