4 alleged U.S. spies shot dead in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Suspected Taliban militants killed four persons accused of being U.S. spies in North Waziristan tribal region, northwest of Pakistan, officials said Friday.

Four dead bodies were recovered from tehsil Mirali in North Waziristan, no one has claimed responsibility for the killings.

A written message had also been placed with dead bodies warning those who will spy for U.S. will have the same fate, official sources said.

Meanwhile security forces imposed curfew in Mirali and surrounding areas for unspecified period of time.

Militants killed over dozens of local people for running a spy network for the U.S. intelligence agencies in the past a few years.

The incident is the newest in the series of similar killings in North Waziristan, the stronghold of Taliban insurgents.

Taliban and al-Qaida fighters infiltrated into Pakistan's tribal areas in 2001 when U.S. toppled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.