Islamabad , Pakistan ( CNN ) -- The Pakistani Taliban vowed on Thursday to kill Shakeel Afridi , the jailed Pakistani doctor accused of helping the CIA in the search for Osama bin Laden , a spokesman for the militant group told CNN . `` We will cut him into pieces when we find him , '' Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told CNN by phone . `` He spied for the U.S. to hunt down our hero Osama bin Laden . '' Pakistani officials say Afridi is being held in a prison in the city of Peshawar in northwest Pakistan . Last week a court in Pakistan 's tribal region sentenced Afridi to 33 years in prison but a copy of the court order obtained by CNN shows Afridi was sentenced for alleged connections to the militant group Lashkar-e-Islam , not for helping Americans in the search for bin Laden . Even so , the Pakistani Taliban says Afridi is the number-one target on its hit list . On Wednesday the jailed doctor 's brother told CNN he fears for Afridi 's safety and called on the United States to help set him free . `` These allegations are false . They 're baseless , '' said Jamil Afridi . `` My brother did n't do anything against Pakistan . If he helped the U.S. , it was for the benefit of Pakistan . The American government should help us in any way it can . '' Officials had told CNN Shekeel Afridi was charged with treason for spying for the United States . He was accused of helping the CIA locate bin Laden in his compound in Abbottabad through a fake vaccination campaign . Bin Laden was killed in the subsequent U.S. raid on the compound in May last year . At least one legal analyst said Afridi 's sentence is a sham . Islamabad-based lawyer Shahzad Akbar questioned the legitimacy of the court proceedings , since the punishment was handed down by a tribal court in Khyber even though the alleged offense occurred in Abbottabad . The Afridi verdict sparked anger in the United States and further strained relations between Washington and Islamabad . The tensions surfaced as Congress debated aid to Pakistan in several bills . In the National Defense Authorization Act , senators agreed last week to withhold Pakistan 's part of a $ 1.75 billion aid package because of outrage over Afridi 's case and the continued blockade of NATO supply routes into and out of Afghanistan . Another bill in the Senate Appropriations Committee withheld $ 33 million in aid to Pakistan for similar reasons . Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said cutting aid is a U.S. prerogative , but added : `` I think the U.S. should not forget we are a victim in this war on terror and we 're suffering for the international community , too . '' Journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report .
The Taliban says the doctor is No . 1 on its hit list . A tribal court judgment says Shakeel Afridi had ties to Lashkar-e-Islam . Officials disclosed earlier that the doctor was convicted for spying . He was accused of helping find Osama bin Laden through a fake vaccination program .