A woman and her alleged paramour were stoned to death by militants in Pakistan's Mohmand tribal agency after a "qazi court" found them guilty of adultery.

This was the first instance of a case of adultery resulting in rajam or stoning to death in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas bordering Afghanistan.

Earlier, couples found guilty of adultery by militants or tribesmen were executed by firing squads.

The woman, identified as Shano from the Mohmand Agency, had allegedly eloped with Daulat Khan Malikdeenkhel of Bara on March 15.

The couple was stoned to death in the Khwezai-Baezai area on Monday, the Dawn newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Some members of the Pakistani Taliban movement "captured" the couple at Nowshera in the North West Frontier Province when they were returning from Karachi, Asad said.

The qazi found the couple guilty of adultery and sentenced them to death by stoning. The sentence was carried out in Khwaezai-Baezai.

The woman's body was buried in the same area by some locals. The man's body was taken to hospital and handed over to his relatives.

Pakistan's Law and Justice Minister Farooq H Naek has directed the Mohmand Agency administration to take act against those involved in the stoning to death of a man and woman to death, after the pair were kidnapped from Nowshera.

The minister issued a statement condemning the heinous incident, and said the couple had been killed in an un-Islamic, barbaric, gruesome and uncivilised way. Naek said those who carried out eh killing would be punished in accordance with the law and the government would not condone such acts.

The minister issued the directive following media reports. According to reports, a self-proclaimed Qazi (Islamic jurist) had ordered the stoning of the couple.