MIRAMSHAH, Nov 27: Suspected pro-Taliban militants killed a cleric in a tribal area, accusing him of spying for US forces operating in neighbouring Afghanistan, officials said on Monday.

Authorities found the bullet-riddled body of Maulana Gul Thaheem, 47, in a ravine in Makeen, a village on the border with South Waziristan tribal district, a security official told AFP.

A note found on the body said Thaheem “spied for Americans and he was a friend of Maulana Salah-ud-Din, and Maulana Hashim Khan”, two clerics shot dead previously, accused of spying, the official said. Suspected militants have killed several tribesmen in the past few months, accusing them of spying.—AFP