NEWS: Attack on Karachi, Pakistan, airport

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -  The brazen terrorist assault on Pakistan's largest Karachi Airport that began near midnight Sunday left almost everybody stunned.


It was the Pakistani Taliban's biggest strike on state security apparatus -- in terms of human casualties -- and is a reminder of the massive security challenge that comes from affiliates of al Qaeda holed up in the mountainous Pakistan-Afghanistan border terrain.
Of the 28 dead, 10 were attackers who were killed during a firefight which latest several hours. Almost all of the suspected gunmen were reportedly wearing suicide vests, devices usually worn by terrorists on termination missions.
Military officials said two of the terrorists had detonated suicide vests.
By putting down the attackers, the security forces most probably preempted a big hostage-taking too; reports the terrorists had foodstuffs like dates, chickpeas, hand-grenades and petrol bombs suggest they came for the long haul.
What was the motive for the attack? 
As usual, the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the Karachi carnage.
"This was revenge for Hakimullah Mehsud's martyrdom" (Mehsud was killed in a U.S. drone strike in November, 2013), and a warning against the impending military operation the government is preparing against the "helpless and innocent tribes in Waziristan," a TTP statement sent to media via email said.
In an earlier message on their Facebook page, the TTP said: "The biggest reason for attacking Karachi airport is because it serves as the biggest air logistics center supplying goods for the Crusaders' war in Afghanistan and Pakistan," referring to the Karachi Port which handles the Afghanistan-bound U.S.-NATO cargo.