ISTANBUL — Pakistani security forces declared yesterday that the Karachi airport had been cleared of militants after attacks that left 28 people dead, including 10 militants and 23 injured. Nearly 12 hours after the start of a siege, security forces succeeded in ending the all-night offensive, thus ensuring the necessary safety. "The attack is over, and we have cleared the area of all militants, and we will hand over the airport to the Civil Aviation Authority at 12.00 pm [on Monday]," paramilitary Rangers spokesman Sibtain Rizvi told AFP reporters, adding that they have also recovered five suicide vests, three rocket-propelled grenades and other heavy weaponry. He also stated that the attackers appeared to have been of Central Asian descent.Hundreds of army and police personnel took part in the military operations at Jinnah International Airport, the country's largest airport, to fight against the 10 heavily armed attackers. The 10 attackers, most of them wearing suicide vests, were killed, army spokesman Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa told the media. These masked attackers, some wearing security personnel uniforms, managed to enter the international airport through an old terminal.How the militants were able to penetrate the international airport has raised concerns over insufficient security policies, practices and procedures applied so far.However, following reports of fresh violence early on Monday, airport officials said the siege was now over, and flights were set to resume in the afternoon. The latest developments show that the security forces were able to take full control of the airport yet. . As fresh gunfire broke out inside the airport, the military operation was launched again to gain control over the area. The Taliban in Pakistan have claimed responsibility for the Sunday night attacks on Karachi International Airport. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group, the main coalition of Taliban groups in Pakistan, stated that the Sunday night attack was in retaliation for military air strikes in North Waziristan, which killed 120 militants in the last two weeks.It is also stated that the attacks were in revenge for the killing of TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud during the military air strikes. Pakistan armed forces have long been fighting against an enormous number of terrorist attacks. The TTP's bloody seven-year insurgency in Pakistan has led many people to die during various violent terrorist attacks. The South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) states that on the basis of January reports, there were at least 70 explosions during that month, resulting in 167 deaths. Apart from the attacks on the international airport, attacks have continued incessantly.According to news reports, on June 7, in separate incidents in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, five people were shot dead, while three others were injured.Since February, Pakistan's government has opened peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban to stop the endless bombings and other terror attacks that the TTP perpetrates almost daily. However, little progress has been made so far to end the insurgency.TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid stated that more attacks would be expected to come as the TTP has dismissed the Pakistani government's recent offer of a new round of peace talks. He also underscored that the terrorist group is set to take revenge for many deaths, telling AFP, "Pakistan used peace talks as a tool of war. We have yet to take revenge for the deaths of hundreds of innocent tribal women and children in Pakistani air strikes."