NATO forces in Afghanistan launched two airstrikes against Taliban fighters on the Pakistani side of the border, killing more than 30 people on Sept. 24 and 25, military spokesmen confirmed. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) initially denied that its forces had launched the airstrikes, although they were confirmed by Afghan police officials. On Sept. 27, however, a statement from ISAF confirmed the attacks. Initially, a base close to the border in Khost province, known as Combat Outpost Narizah, came under fire from insurgents. When what ISAF described as an "air weapons team" responded, they came under fire from the insurgents across the border in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area, and returned fire. When two ISAF helicopters returned to the area the next day, they were again fired on from the Pakistani side of the border, and again returned fire.

As we've had plenty of occasion to say before: Isn't it funny that those who invoke the supposed superiority of Western culture the loudest are the quickest to betray those values which supposedly make it superior (pluralism, tolerance, etc.)? And we'll also add—Way to win hearts and minds in Afghanistan! From ABC News, Sept. 4:

A suicide bombing at a Shi'ite demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinians in the western Pakistani city of Quetta (Balochistan province) on Sept. 3 left at least 65 people dead. That same day, a suicide attack during Friday evening prayers at an Ahmadiyya mosque in the town of Mardan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province) killed at least two people. Local Ahmadi spokesman Saleemudin faulted authorities for not taking adequate security measures at the mosque given recent deadly attacks on the Ahmadiyya elsewhere in Pakistan. But he added that the Ahmadiyya would remain peaceful and not take the law in their own hands. (WP, Kashmir Observer, Pakistan Daily Times, Sept. 4)

In the latest in a series of jihadist attacks on mosques in Pakistan, three suicide bombers blew themselves up amid a procession of thousands of the faithful outside a Shi'ite mosque in Lahore Sept. 1, killing at least 37. Shi'te protesters clashed with police following the attack. Both Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (Army of Jhangvi, named for an anti-Shia cleric) and Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud are said to have claimed responsibility for the attack. Thousands of Shi'ites marched in mourning in Lahore the following day. (Indian Express, Foreign Policy Journal, Sept. 3; MEMRI, NYT, Sept. 2)

The US Department of Justice announced Sept. 1 that it has charged Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimulla Mehsud in connection with the Dec. 30 attack on CIA Afghan outpost Camp Chapman that left nine people dead. Mehsud identifies himself as the head of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

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.