Uzbek fighters were involved in the all-night siege of Karachi airport that killed 37, insurgent sources say, highlighting how the Pakistani Taliban can draw on international militant networks to carry out major attacks.
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), an al-Qaeda affiliate that has been mainly based in Pakistan's tribal belt since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, claimed the "martyrdom" of 10 of their fighters during this week's assault in a statement posted on various Taliban-linked websites.
The attack extinguished a nascent peace process and raised questions about how the Taliban were able to penetrate the airport serving Pakistan's economic hub.
"At midnight of Monday ten brave martyrdom seeking mujaahids of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan wearing their explosive-filled vests attacked a very special section of Karachi International Airport of Pakistan," the English-language statement attributed to IMU said on Wednesday.
The page included photographs of 10 black-turbaned fighters wearing green tunics and white trainers while carrying assault rifles, in what appeared to be a snowy mountainous region.
"This martyrdom operation was carried out as the revenge to the latest full-scale bombardments and night attacks with fighter jets by (the) Pakistan Apostate Army," the statement added.
The Pakistani Taliban's main spokesman confirmed that Uzbek fighters were involved in the attack but did not say how many.
"Yes, the attack on the Karachi airport was a joint operation of TTP and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan," Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said.
"The foreigners are also our Muslim brethren and we all are Muslim Mujahideen. So we can't elaborate on how many Uzbeks and how many Pakistanis participated in this action."
An intelligence official in Islamabad added that Karachi-based investigators also suspected the attackers included Uzbeks.
Ten heavily armed militants laid siege to Karachi airport throughout Sunday night and the early hours of Monday morning in one of the most brazen attacks on a key installation in recent years.
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