The suicide of Abdullah Mehsud comes at a time when US pressure on Pakistan to take serious military action against Al-Qaeda and Taliban hideouts in the tribal area along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is mounting.

According to Pakistani officials, Abdullah Mehsud blew himself up with a grenade to avoid arrest when security forces raided his hideout in Zhob. Three of his followers were arrested. Asad Durrani, the former head of the country's Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, said it made sense that the top Taliban commander had decided to kill himself under the circumstances.

He said that anyone who fell into the hands of the security forces might "reveal something under torture", or "suffer the agony of torture".

Taliban leader

Mehsud reportedly became the leader of a group of Pakistani Taliban insurgents based in South Waziristan, after he was released without charge from the US-run prison at Guantanamo Bay in March 2004.

The one-legged militant was involved later in October of that year in the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers, and had been on the run ever since.

He was tracked down by the Pakistani intelligence services who were able to trace his phone calls.

Keeping the pact

Mehsud's end came hard on the heels of a series of clashes between security forces and militants in North Waziristan, where the Pakistani government has been trying to keep a ten-month old peace pact with tribal elders.

Behroz Khan, an analyst based in Peshawar, didn't think the negotiations would be hindered by this incident.

"After the Chinese engineers incident," he said, "Mehsud faded into the background and was reported to have some psychological problems. I don’t think his death will change much."

Increased violence

Meanwhile, the Pakistani army announced that at least 54 militants had been killed since Saturday -- the same day that US President George W. Bush expressed his concern over intelligence reports suggesting Al-Qaeda was re-organising in the Pakistani tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have exchanged hot words over this issue a number of times, as the Karzai government in Kabul has repeatedly accused the Pakistani military of supporting Islamist militants in the region.

Independent?

But the former ISI head, Asad Durrnai, said that the militants were acting independently. "People in that area are fairly well trained in the use of arms," he explained. "They have done it for hundreds of years."

"They fought against the British. No-one trained them. They were self-trained. They use arms in their own way. Their tactics are according to the area as well. These people are not trained by the Pakistan army to fight against the Pakistan army."

However, critics say it is an open secret that the Pakistani intelligence agencies provided technical assistance and financial support to Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan and Afghanistan during the Soviet war and continue to have strong links with the militants.

It remains to be seen whether the death of a top Taliban leader will further affect the volatile situation in Pakistan.