Pakistani Militant Leader Is Killed

Abdullah Mehsud, left, a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, talks on his walky-talkie as his body guard looks on near Chagmalai in South Waziristan along Afghanistan border in this Oct 14, 2004 file photo. Mehsud, who led pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan after his release, died on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 when he blew himself up with a grenade to avoid arrest. Armed intelligence agents cornered Mehsud and three other men at the house of a leader of an Islamist political party in the southwestern town of Zhob, police officials said. (AP Photo/M. Sajjad/FILE) (M. Sajjad - AP)

Much of the trouble has been in North Waziristan, a tribal region where a 10-month-old peace deal between the government and militants has broken down.

On Monday, the army reported at least 20 militants and two soldiers were killed in fighting. Militants mounted rocket attacks Tuesday but no casualties were reported.

Washington has described the pact as a failure that gave breathing room to al-Qaida to regroup _ and perhaps plot another big attack on the United States.

Pakistan still hopes to resurrect the peace deal, under which tribal elders pledged to evict foreign fighters and stop cross-border raids.

Nevertheless, the army's redeployment in the region, backed by helicopters and artillery, has elicited a fierce response.

On Monday, militants distributed pamphlets in Miran Shah warning and taunting troops that they faced more attacks by suicide bombers who "love death more than you love your salary of four, five thousand rupees, your photos of naked Indian actresses, your wine and kebabs."

In other violence, the beheaded bodies of two soldiers abducted the night before were found Tuesday morning in the Bajur tribal area, which lies north of Waziristan.

A note found in the hand of one of the slain men said that spies for President Bush or Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf would meet the same fate, said Sardar Yousaf, a local government official.

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Associated Press writers Bashirullah Khan in Miran Shah, Habibullah Khan in Khar and Sadaqat Jan in Islamabad contributed to this report.