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ISLAMABAD - A leading pro-Taleban tribesman was killed after being surrounded by Pakistani forces near the Afghan border, Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said.
Abudullah Mehsud was released from Guantanamo Bay in 2004. Later that year he kidnapped two Chinese engineers working in South Waziristan, a region known as a hotbed of support for al Qaeda and the Taleban. According to officials in Baluchistan, Mehsud blew himself up to avoid arrest.
Earlier Pakistan's armed forces killed at least 35 militants in North Waziristan, two days after United States President George W. Bush said he was "troubled" by reports al Qaeda was gaining strength in Pakistani tribal areas. More than 50 militants have been killed since Sunday.
- REUTERS
