Two 'United States spies' killed in Pakistan

Peshawar (Pakistan), Mar 5: Suspected pro-Taliban militants shot dead two Pakistani tribesmen near the Afghan border after accusing them of being US informers, government officials and witnesses said.

The bodies of the men, Qayyum Shamiri, 35, and Rakham Din, 40, were found in different places today, dumped beside roads near Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan region which is a hotbed of Islamist support.

Security officials said both men had been shot and notes found with their bodies saying: ''US spies will have a similar fate''.

Militants in North and South Waziristan have killed dozens of people they accused of supporting the Pakistani government or spying for US forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Last Tuesday, militants beheaded an Afghan cleric in South Waziristan after accusing him of being a US spy. The cleric had spoken out against militants in his sermons.

Many Taliban militants and foreign al Qaeda members fled into Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal regions after U.S.-led forces ousted the radical Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2001.

Pakistani forces have tried to flush out the foreign militants and subdue their Pakistani allies, and hundreds of people have been killed.

The government later signed peace deals aimed at ending fighting and stopping militant infiltration into Afghanistan but critics say the deals have given the militants free rein and led to ''Talibanisation'' of the region.

The government of President Pervez Musharraf, a major ally in the US-led war on terrorism, defends the deals, saying they have led to a reduction of violence in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, and dismisses concern about Talibanisation.

REUTERS >