“They killed him on the spot and left his body on the roadside,” the security official, who requested not to be identified, told Reuters.

Such targeted killings are common in the North and South Waziristan region where Pakistan’s government has struck deals with tribal leaders to end clashes between pro-Taliban militants and security forces. On Friday, the headless body of a cleric was found in the Waziristan region with a note saying was a U.S. spy.

Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt is known as a haven for Islamist militants for decades and a large number of al-Qaida militants and their Taliban allies have taken refuge with their local sympathizers since fleeing the U.S.-led invasion in Afghanistan in late 2001.

Tensions have risen since Monday when Pakistan army helicopters attacked and destroyed an Islamist school or madrasa in Bajaur tribal region, killing around 80 suspected militants. The attack provoked angry protests from tribesmen who said the dead, mostly young men aged between 15 and 25, were students.

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