Islamabad: Top Taliban militant leader Abdullah Mehsud, who was wanted for the kidnappings of two Chinese engineers in 2004, today blew himself up to avoid arrest in Pakistan's southwestern town of Zhob.

Mehsud, who was a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, killed himself with a grenade when Pakistani security forces cornered him in his hideout in Balochistan province.

Three of his accomplices were arrested in the military operation, Interior Ministry Spokesman Iqbal Cheema said.

"He blew himself up to avoid arrest at Zhob in Balochistan," Cheema said.