US President-elect Barack Obama in his Nov. 16 appearance on 60 Minutes was asked by interviewer Steve Kroft: "Can you give us some sense of when you might start redeployments out of Iraq?" His answer stated fairly explicitly that his planned Iraq draw-down would be concomitant with an escalation in Afghanistan:

Jill McGivering in a Nov. 12 report for the BBC, "Rough justice for Afghan women inmates," visits Afghanistan's dismal Lashkar Gah prison in Helmand, revealing that women and teenage girls continue to be incarcerated for lengthy terms in harsh conditions for such crimes as pre-marital sex or defending themselves against abusive spouses in the post-Taliban era. Of the prison's seven female prisoners she interviewed, this case is perhaps the most poignant:

The anti-terrorist NEFA Foundation Nov. 13 reports a new statement from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban) addressed to US President-elect Barack Obama. The statement says that "the overwhelming victory of Barrack Obama [sic]...reveals the collective willingness of American people not to continue the current despicable and anti-human wars in Afghanistan and Iraq—wars that have been launched by W. Bush." It says is "imperative for Obama to put an end to all the policies being followed by his Opposition Party, the Republicans and pull out US troops from Afghanistan and Iraq forthwith.... He should respect the rights of the people to independence and observe the norms of human rights. In short, he should set out on a policy that will have a message of peace for the war-stricken world which has been victimized by the arrogance and tyranny of USA."

At least 12 people were killed in a missile strike apparently carried out by a US drone in Pakistan's Tribal Areas. The raid is believed to have killed neo-Taliban fighters, five of them foreigners, Pakistani officials said. The attack targeted a house in a village near the border between North and South Waziristan, in a stronghold of local militant commander Baitullah Mehsud. The attack came a day after Pakistan's foreign ministry accused the US of violating international law by launching missile attacks on the region. (AlJazeera, Nov. 13)

The Afghan government accused US forces of killing up to 14 security guards for a construction company in the eastern province of Khost Nov. 10. The US says the victims were militants who were carrying rocket-propelled grenades and opened fire on coalition forces. US-led troops responded with ground fire and helicopter attack. President Hamid Karzai released a statement condemning the actions of the US forces involved in the fight.

Pakistan security officials say a suspected US missile strike into the North Waziristan region killed ten people Nov. 7. Reports indicate most of the militants killed were "foreigners." The strike is said to have targeted an al-Qaeda training center in the mountains south of the town of Mir Ali. (Radio Australia, Nov. 7)

The US military said Nov. 5 that it will investigate a report that an air-strike hit a wedding party in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, killing dozens of civilians and prompting new protests from President Hamid Karzai. "We cannot win the fight against terrorism with air-strikes," Karzai told reporters in Kabul, hours after Barack Obama won the US presidential race. "This is my first demand of the new president of the United States—to put an end to civilian casualties." (LAT, Nov. 6)

More than 20 people were killed in two apparent US missile strikes in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border Oct. 31. An al-Qaeda leader identified as Abu Kasha or Abu Akash, previously believed to be in Iraq, was reported killed in the attack near the village of Mirali, North Waziristan. Two hours later, a second set of missiles hit a village in South Waziristan, killing seven, including an unspecified number of foreign fighters, Pakistani officials said. US military authorities had no immediate comment.