MIR ALI, Pakistan - Authorities suspect Taliban terrorists brutally murdered four men in northwest Pakistan accused of spying for the United States.

The mutilated bodies of the slain men were dumped in an open field in Mir Ali, one of the largest towns in North Waziristan, the tribal region in northwest Pakistan.

On Friday morning, residents of the town, along with an Associated Press correspondent, viewed the four bodies. Three of the victims throats had been slit and their hands amputated. A fourth had been beheaded.

Their murderers attached notes to the corpses warning that such would be the fate of anyone suspected of spying.

In the past several years, dozens of Pakistanis have been murdered and their bodies mutilated in the North Waziristan region.

According to one AP reporter, the U.S. has encouraged Pakistan to combat Taliban insurgents embroiled in attacks in neighboring Afghanistan.

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AP contributed to this report.