Suspected Taliban militants kill 4 men alleged to be US spies in Pakistan’s tribal belt

Suspected militants kill 4 ‘US spies’ in Pakistan

MIR ALI, Pakistan — Suspected Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan slaughtered four men on Friday after accusing them of spying for the United States, residents said.

The mutilated bodies were dumped in an open area in Mir Ali, a major town in the North Waziristan tribal region.

Dozens of men have been killed in a similar fashion in North Waziristan in recent years, especially as the U.S. has pushed for Pakistan’s army to take on insurgents based there who plan attacks in neighboring Afghanistan.

Ikram Ullah, an area resident, and an Associated Press reporter saw the bodies Friday morning. One was beheaded, while the other three had slit throats and severed hands.

Notes attached to the bodies warned others to learn from the fate of the so-called spies.

Meanwhile, security forces in a gunbattle killed 18 suspected militants in the Orakzai tribal region, government official Jahanzeb Khan said.

One soldier also was wounded in Friday’s shootout, he said.

Pakistan has stepped up army operations in Orakzai since mid-March when authorities dispatched ground forces there to flush out insurgents who fled an offensive in South Waziristan tribal area last year.

Associated Press writer Hussain Afzal contributed to this report from Parachinar.