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2 alleged US spies killed in Pakistan
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-22 11:20

ISLAMABAD -- Suspected militants Sunday killed two men accused of spying for the United States in Pakistan's tribal region of North Waziristan, local officials and tribesmen said.

Bodies of Afghan nationals Zar Muhammad and Nek Muhammad were found in the Spin Wam area near a canal, according to the private NNI news agency.

A note in Pashto language, found near the bodies, said that they were spying for the United States on local Taliban.

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The note warned that anyone spying for the US or Afghanistan would face the same fate, the news agency said.

The report cited locals as saying that the slain Afghans belonged to the Khost province, which borders Pakistan's North Waziristan.

They said that five masked men brought them from other areas and shot them dead in the Pakistani area Sunday.

Local Taliban say that espionage has led to US missile strikes on the suspected hideouts of the militants.

US drones regularly fire missiles on hideouts of suspected militants in Waziristan tribal regions.

Taliban in Pakistan recently released a video of five people, who said they were spying on al-Qaeda people on the "instructions of the army". But the army spokesman has denied the claim and said that Pakistan is not helping the US in the missile strike and considers such attacks counter-productive.

Pakistan says that US has carried out around 35 missile attacks in the tribal regions since August.

Militants are blamed for attacking people suspected of spying for the US or Pakistani authorities in the region, which borders Afghanistan.

U.S claims that al Qaeda- and Taliban-linked militants operate from the tribal regions of Pakistan.

Pakistan has deployed around 100,000 troops to its regions bordering Afghanistan, including North Waziristan, to track down militants.