The lawyer for a Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden says his client has been charged with murder.

Samiullah Afridi said on Friday that Shakil Afridi was charged with murder, in a case involving a boy who died after the doctor operated on him for appendicitis in 2006, in Pakistan's Khyber tribal area.

The boy's mother filed a complaint against the Afridi, saying he was not authorised to carry out the surgery because he was a physician, not a surgeon.

The lawyer said the case had no merit because too much time had passed. Afridi is currently in prison.

He was convicted of "conspiring against the state" in May 2012 and sentenced to 33 years in prison.

His sentence was overturned in August and a retrial ordered.