MIRANSHAH, Dec 29: A Pakistani paramilitary solider and a civilian were killed while two suspected spies have been arrested in a restive tribal district near Afghanistan, officials said on Thursday. The soldier was shot dead by suspected militants late on Wednesday in Mirali, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) east of the Miranshah, North Waziristan, a local administration official told AFP.

Separately, authorities found the body of a local tribesman with his throat cut early on Thursday in Miranshah, the official said. A note left nearby said that the man was killed for being an American spy, the official said.

Similar killings in recent months have been blamed on militants linked to Taliban militia and their Al-Qaeda allies.

Meanwhile, authorities raided a house in Baroman village near Miranshah and arrested two ‘spies’ accused of taking money from ‘enemies of Pakistan’ and paying the local tribesmen to plant bombs in North Waziristan, he said.