Afghan men accused of spying found dead in Pakistan

Islamabad: Militants killed two Afghan men accused of spying for the United States and dumped their bodies in a Pakistani border region at the centre of an intense campaign of American missile strikes, an official said Saturday.

Police found the bullet-ridden bodies of the two men on Saturday in the North Waziristan tribal region after a tip from residents, police official Gul Marjan said.

Each of the bodies found in the village of Ghulam Khan had a note pinned to it reading, "See the fate of this man. He was an American spy," Marjan said. The notes said the men were from the neighbouring Afghan province of Khost.

Militants have executed scores of Afghans and Pakistanis in the region in recent years for alleged spying. It is unclear whether the victims, many of whom have been beheaded, were marking or informing on targets for US missile strikes.

At least 18 suspected strikes from unmanned US military and CIA aircraft have hit Pakistan's tribal regions since August, more than three times as many as in 2007.