At least six militants were killed in a presumed US drone strike in Miranshah, in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region. The missiles hit a small convoy of vehicles minutes before the scheduled iftar time, when the Ramadan fast is broken. After the attack, Taliban militants barricaded the site and shifted the bodies to an undisclosed location. At least four drones continued to hover over the region for an hour after the attack. Over 900 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in more than 200 drone strikes in Pakistan's northwest tribal areas since 2008. (ANI, Aug. 22)

A man and a woman who allegedly had an adulterous affair were stoned to death in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz Aug. 15, according to the local governor, Mohammad Omar. The stoning was carried out in a crowded bazaar in the Taliban-controlled village of Mullah Quli, Tal Dasht-e Archi district. The Taliban have not commented on the incident. The punishment was reportedly carried out by hundreds of the victims' neighbors and even their family members.

A crowd of about 300 villagers blocked a main road in eastern Afghanistan Aug. 12 and chanted "Death to the US!" The protest came after a raid by US forces in which they said three innocent villagers were killed at Zarin Khil, Sayed Abad district, Wardak province. Village elders said US troops stormed into a family’s house and shot three brothers—all young men—and then took their father into custody. Local police are said to be investigating the allegations. NATO forces rejected the claim, saying those killed in the overnight raid were "suspected insurgents", and that a local Taliban commander was detained.

From the Amnesty International, Aug. 10:

The Taleban and other insurgent groups should be investigated and prosecuted for war crimes, Amnesty International said, following the release of a UN report showing a rise in targeted killings of civilians in Afghanistan by anti-government fighters.

Dozens of Afghan refugees have been reported missing and thousands displaced by severe floods in Pakistan over the past two weeks, according to refugees, aid workers and officials. Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa (KP) province, northwestern Pakistan, where most of the 1.7 million Afghan refugees registered in Pakistan are living, has been worst affected, officials said.

Amid the thousands of pages of classified US military documents released July 25 by the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks are details of nearly 200 incidents that involve Task Force 373, an elite Special Forces unit tasked with hunting down and killing enemy combatants in Afghanistan. Documents indicate the unit has also been responsible for the deaths of numerous civilians, Afghan police officers, and, in one particularly bloody raid, seven children.

US drones fired missiles at a target in the Angoor Adda area of Pakistan's South Waziristan region July 24, killing 18 suspected militants. (PTI, July 24) According to a count by the BBC Urdu service, nearly 2,500 people have been killed in Pakistan by US drone strikes and Taliban attacks since January 2009. (Pakistan Daily Times, July 24)

By the end of 2011, 81 US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agents will be deployed in Afghanistan, up from 13 just three years ago, according to the agency's chief of operations Tom Harrigan. "Afghanistan is the most prolific producer of opium," said Harrigan. "We are working very closely with our Afghan counterparts. We're there to extend the rule of law." (Federal News Radio, July 23)