PESHAWAR: Taliban militants in Pakistan's troubled northwestern tribal belt Wednesday killed a truck driver and his helper for supplying livestock to Afghanistan, a senior official told AFP.

The attack took place in Baizai town of Mohmand tribal district, where Pakistan's military is engaged in anti-militant border operations, as the truck was returning from selling livestock in the east Afghan province of Nangarhar.

The militants signalled for the truck to stop before opening fire, said senior administration official Maqsood Hasan.

“First they fired on the truck and killed both the driver and his helper. Then they destroyed the truck by setting it on fire,” he said.

“Taliban militants carried out the attack.”

The driver had violated a ban on supplies travelling by truck across the border to Afghanistan, imposed by militants in the area, an intelligence official in Peshawar said.

He said the Pakistani Taliban had previously imposed a tax on such trucks, but clashes over the penalty led to an outright ban.

Militants in the region have previously launched regular attacks on Nato supply trucks and oil tankers to disrupt supplies for international troops fighting in Afghanistan.