SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Eleven detainees at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay – eight Afghans and three Jordanians – have been transferred to the custody of their home countries, the Pentagon announced Sunday.

Kabul, Afghanistan – Afghans affected by an outbreak of Taliban fighting in a strategic district bordering the southern city of Kandahar have returned to their villages after a week of crisis sparked by the death of a tribal strongman.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, in a meeting with Japan’s deputy foreign minister Itsunori Onodera, underlined Tehran’s industrious efforts to release a Japanese student who was abducted in southern Iran a few weeks ago.