Seven sharia courts opened this week in Pakistan's northwest Swat Valley as part of a peace agreement signed between tribal leaders and the government last month. Authorities said two qazis, or judges trained in Islamic law, reviewed some 30 minor cases in Mingora, the largest city in Swat.

Two Hellfire missiles fired by suspected US Predator drones reportedly killed four militants in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) March 15. Unnamed intelligence officials said two Pakistanis and two Arabs were killed in the strikes on a house in Sain Tanga village, near Jani Khel in Bannu Frontier Region, North Waziristan Agency. Sources said the house belonged to a local tribesman identified variously as Haji Awais or Taj Ali Khan. Al-Qaeda number-two man Ayman al-Zawahiri is also believed to be in the area. (NYT, DPA, AlJazeera, March 16)

Afghanistan's Supreme Court has upheld a 20-year prison term for Parwiz Kambakhsh, 24, a university student journalist accused of "blasphemy" for writing an article advocating greater rights for women under Islam. The student's family and lawyers said this week that they had learned only recently about the court decision, which was made in secret on Feb. 12.

Leaders of Pakistan's Mamoond tribe, which straddles the Afghan border in the country's Bajaur tribal district, signed an agreement with the government March 9 to end their insurgency, refuse shelter to foreign militants, and respect state authority. The pact commits the Mamoond to turn over key figures of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Bajaur, lay down arms, disband militant groups and shut militant training camps.

A US drone was shot down by Taliban militants March 7 in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal district, officials and residents said. The drone reportedly crashed in the Angoor Adda area, which has witnessed several missile strikes by pilotless aircraft as well as an apparent incursion last year by US-led coalition forces from Afghanistan. Pakistani officials are said to be searching for the wreckage. A drone was reported to have crashed near Angoor Adda in September. (PTI, March 7)

Afghanistan's human rights progress has been thwarted by armed conflict, censorship, abuse of power, and violence against women, according to a report delivered March 5 to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. The report notes that violence against women such as rape, "honor killings," forced marriage, and slavery remain widespread. "Violence is tolerated or condoned within the family and community, within traditional and religious leadership circles as well as the formal and informal justice system," said Pillay. "In this regard the Afghan Government has failed to adequately protect the rights of women despite constitutional guarantees."

Leon Panetta, in his first press interview as CIA director, told reporters at Langley Feb. 25 that President Barack Obama will continue the global war on terrorism. "We are going to continue to pursue, we are going to continue to bring pressure, we are going to continue a very aggressive effort to go after terrorists, to go after [Osama] bin Laden, until we bring them to justice," Panetta said. "That is a fundamental mission that we are committed to here." (Reuters, Feb. 25)

Two missiles fired March 1 from a US drone killed at least eight militants in the Sora Rogha area of South Waziristan, a tribal region controlled by the Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. The dead reportedly include four Arab militants, a Pakistani intelligence official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. (NYT, March 1)