Australia has ordered an investigation into claims that up to 20 Afghan asylum-seekers were killed by the Taliban after being forcibly returned to their country. A TV documentary reports that those who died were among 400 Afghan asylum-seekers denied entry to Australia by the outgoing John Howard administration. Their fate was examined by a research group, the Edmund Rice Centre, which says it has proof of nine deaths.

Suspected US drones fired missiles into an alleged Taliban compound near Wana village in Pakistan's South Waziristan, killing at least seven people, local security officials said Oct. 26. There was no immediate confirmation of the strike from Pakistan's military or the US-led coalition in Afghanistan. The attack is the 12th in the past 10 weeks—all of which have been blamed on CIA or US-led forces in Afghanistan.

The death sentence of Afghan journalism student Sayad Parwaz Kambaksh was reduced Oct. 21 to 20 years imprisonment by an Afghan appeals court. Kambaksh was sentenced to death in January for distributing papers questioning gender roles under Islam. In May, Kambaksh appealed his death sentence before the appeals court. He denied the accusations in front of a three-judge panel Oct. 19, saying they were made by Balkh University professors and students with "private hostilities" against him. He told the court that his confessions were the result of torture by the Balkh province intelligence service.

Pakistan's parliament held a heated debate Oct. 20 on how to fight the Islamist militants in the northwest, who are now extending their reach to suicide attacks in the capital. Calls for dialogue with the Taliban, punctuated by opposition to fighting what is perceived as America's war, dominated the closed-door sessions, participants said. (IHT, Oct. 20) Meanwhile, Maulana Sufi Muhammad, leader of the Tanzim Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi, has offered to broker peace with the militants if the government instates sharia law in his stronghold of Malakand. "In that case I will personally go to Swat and Bajaur to persuade the militants to lay down arms," he said. He added that he would declare jihad against the Swat Taliban commanded by his son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah if they refused to lay down arms after the enforcement of sharia. (The News, Pakistan, Oct. 18; The News, Oct. 13)

A suicide bomber struck a NATO patrol in northern Afghanistan's Kunduz province, killing at least two soldiers and five children Oct. 20. NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) did not reveal the soldiers' nationality, but Kunduz governor Mohammad Omar said they were German. The attacker apparently rode up to the patrol on a bicycle. The attacker Germany has some 3,000 soldiers in northern Afghanistan.

Saudi Arabia is mediating between Taliban and Afghan officials to prevent Pakistan from sliding into civil war and to wean the Taliban away from al-Qaeda, anonymous diplomats told Reuters. "They want to help because Pakistan is frightening. They fear what could happen in Pakistan. This (mediation) is to stabilize Pakistan," said one diplomat privy to details of the talks held recently in Mecca. The sources said Saudi external intelligence chief Prince Muqrin and his predecessor Prince Turki al-Faisal were involved in arranging the mediation, which is at an early stage. (Pakistan Daily Times, Oct. 16)

A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-packed vehicle into a police station in Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley Oct. 16, killing three officers and wounding 15. (Reuters, Oct. 16). Later that day, a suspected US missile struck a house in Tapargai, South Waziristan, killing one suspected foreign militant and injuring another, Pakistani officials said. Local residents reported seeing unmanned aircraft in the sky before and after the attack. (AP, Oct. 16)

Days after a US missile strike reportedly killed 20 in Pakistan's northwest, Islamabad's Foreign Ministry warned that such attacks are counter-productive. "We want them to realize that these attacks are destabilizing the situation, and they are not helping them or Pakistan," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq told the AP. "They are helping the terrorists." The comments came as a suicide bomber in an explosives-laden pickup truck attacked an an outdoor meeting where tribal elders were discussing plans to move against a Taliban militant base that had been established in the area, in the Orakzai tribal agency. The blast left some 40 dead. (AP, NYT, Oct. 11)