Pakistan ? Pakistan arrested a former Taliban defense minister regarded as a top figure in the Afghan insurgency, a Pakistani intelligence official said today.

Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, considered a key associate of fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar, is the most senior leader from the hard-line militia to be arrested since U.S.-led troops ousted it from power in 2001.

Akhund was among five Taliban suspects arrested earlier this week in a raid on a home in the southwestern city of Quetta, said the official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to comment to journalists.

The New York Times, citing two unnamed Pakistani government officials, said Akhund was arrested Monday, the day U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney visited Pakistan, which is under growing international pressure to crack down on Taliban militants believed to seek sanctuary on its soil.

The intelligence official said Akhund’s arrest was a planned operation and was not linked to Cheney’s visit.