Taliban shoot dead four 'spies': officials

Militants shoot dead four tribesmen in Miranshah after accusing them of spying for the United States, say officials. PHOTO: AFP

MIRANSHAH: Taliban militants shot dead four tribesmen on Monday after accusing them of spying for the United States in northwestern tribal belt, officials said.

Three bullet-riddled bodies were dumped on a roadside in Datta Khel village, 35 kilometres west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district, local administration official Wahab Khan told AFP.

The body of another tribesman was found in Mir Ali village, 25 kilometres east of Miranshah, Khan said.

“The bodies had multiple bullet wounds and were mutilated,” Khan said and added that notes found on bodies said Taliban had killed them because they were spying for the United States.

Local intelligence officials confirmed the executions.

Militants frequently kidnap and kill tribesmen in the troubled region on alleged charges of spying for the Pakistan government or US forces in neighbouring Afghanistan, where Taliban fighters have been waging a vicious insurgency for nine years.

North Waziristan is a known hub of Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants where the United States wants the Pakistan military to launch a ground offensive as soon as possible.

Pakistan has consistently countered that its troops are too overstretched to launch an assault there.