Taliban kill 2 alleged U.S. spies in NW Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Pakistani Taliban shot and killed two men Wednesday whom they accused of spying for the United States, while a bomb ripped through a NATO oil tanker near the Afghan border and killed a passer-by, officials and residents said.

The slain men were from Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region which is effectively under militant control. The bodies were dumped in an open area in the town.

Local resident Ahsan Ullah said notes attached to the bodies warned others to learn from the fate of the so-called American spies.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials confirmed the deaths and the content of the notes. They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to release information to the media.

The Pakistani Taliban have killed dozens of people in recent years in similar fashion.

The latest deaths come less than two weeks after militants killed a former pro-Taliban Pakistani intelligence officer after abducting him along with another ex-intelligence official and a filmmaker.

Also Wednesday, a bomb ripped through an oil tanker carrying supplies for NATO forces based in Afghanistan, killing a passer-by, Pakistani border guard Fazal Bari said.

The attack took place in Chaman, the main border town in impoverished southwestern Baluchistan province, Bari said. The tanker caught fire after the blast and police were trying checking whether anyone aboard the tanker was hurt.

No one claimed responsibility, but militants often launch such attacks.

Also Wednesday, four people died in two separate attacks in and near the northwestern city of Peshawar.

A grenade hurled into a home in a congested residential area of the city killed two young girls and wounded two others, police official Razi Khan said. It was not clear whether militants were behind the attack and authorities were investigating.

Meanwhile, a bomb explosion near a camp for Afghan refugees on the outskirts of Peshawar killed three teenage boys and injured two others, regional police chief Laical Ali Khan said. The victims were students at a religious school in Shamshatu camp.

Khan said police and explosive experts were investigating the blast.