DUSHANBE, August 8, 2008, Asia-Plus - Taliban militants beheaded two menand shot dead a third in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan after accusing them of spying on the rebels, officials and witnesses said Friday.

The bodies of three men were found dumped by a road at Kayrala village in the troubled Bajaur tribal district with notes saying "these people were spying on Taliban movement fighters," a local government official told AFP.

Witnesses said that two had their heads severed and the third was killed by a gunshot.

Militants have killed several tribesmen and Afghan refugees in the mountainous, semi-autonomous tribal region after accusing them of spying.

Most ohave been accused of spying for US forces across the border in Afghanistan, but the militants did not say whom the latest victims were allegedly working for.

Officials on Thursday said that fierce battles killed 10 troops and 25 militants in Bajaur, a known haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

Pakistan is under mounting international pressure to crack down on the militants.