Taliban Kill Afghan "Spy" In Pakistani Tribal Area

Tuesday January 13,2009
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) Taliban militants shot dead an Afghan national in Pakistan's lawless northwestern tribal belt after accusing him of spying for the United States, a local official said Tuesday.

Militants have killed dozens of local tribesmen and Afghan refugees on allegations of spying for mainly the Pakistani government or U.S. forces operating across the border in Afghanistan.

The bullet-riddled body of Bahadur Khan was found early Tuesday in a market in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, the official said, adding that Khan had been kidnapped from the same place the previous day.

"A note found with the body said, 'He was spying for the U.S. and anyone spying on us will end up like this,'" the official said.

Pakistan's tribal areas have been wracked by violence since hundreds of Taliban and Al Qaeda militants sought refuge in the region after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan toppled the hardline Taliban regime in late 2001.