Miranshah: An Afghan woman suspected of being a US spy was shot and killed by militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan region, a witness and intelligence officials said on Wednesday.

Gulzada Bibi, a woman in her mid-thirties, was found with three bullet wounds in her chest near Degan village, some 35 kilometres west of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, the officials said.

Her body was dumped in a sewer.

"A note pinned to her body said she belonged to Afghanistan's Paktia province and was caught with a satellite phone she had been using to spy for the US," a village resident said.

The Taliban frequently kill many accused of being US spies or government supporters, but the killing of women is rare.