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US drone attacks in Pakistan have killed at least 29 noncombatants since 2012 鈥� deaths that could be categorized as war crimes, Amnesty International said today in a report released just a day before Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is set to meet with President Obama.

The report, 鈥溾�榃ill I be Next?鈥� US Drone Strikes in Pakistan鈥� was released by Amnesty International in conjunction with a separate report by New York-based Human Rights Watch on US drone attacks in Yemen. The Amnesty report analyzed 45 publicly known drone attacks in the most commonly targeted region of Pakistan where the Taliban has been particularly active, North Waziristan, between January 2012 and August 2013.

The timing of the report's release puts perhaps the most sensitive issue in US-Pakistan relations in the spotlight as the two leaders meet.聽

President Obama publicly acknowledged a drone program in Pakistan in January 2012, and promised greater transparency in May 2013. 鈥淭here must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured,鈥� Obama said, noting that civilian deaths from drone strikes would haunt him and others involved in the administration鈥檚 hierarchy 鈥渁s long as we live.鈥�

Amnesty wrote in its report release that despite this, the US 鈥渟till refuses to divulge even basic factual and legal information鈥� on its drone program, which means little opportunity for victims鈥� families to press for compensation or take legal action.

鈥淪ecrecy surrounding the drones program gives the US administration a license to kill beyond the reach of the courts or basic standards of international law,鈥� said Mustafa Qadri, author of the report.

鈥淭he tragedy is that drone aircraft deployed by the USA over Pakistan now instill the same kind of fear in the people of the tribal areas that was once associated only with Al Qaeda and the Taliban,鈥� said Mr. Qadri.

According to Reuters, the Pakistani Taliban largely controls North Waziristan, in northwestern Pakistan, offering 鈥渟afe havens to Al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban who are fighting NATO troops across the border.鈥�

In the first publicized drone attack since Obama鈥檚 May speech, the Pakistani Taliban鈥檚 second in command, Wali-ur-Rehman, was killed in a strike along with at least five others.

"This is a huge blow to militants and a win in the fight against insurgents," one security official told Reuters at the time.

The Pakistani government has long condemned drone strikes, often citing civilian casualties, as well as territorial integrity and Pakistani sovereignty. Obama is set to meet Sharif at the White House tomorrow, and on Friday the United Nations is set to debate drones and transparency.

In its report, Amnesty found that US drones killed a grandmother, Mamana Bibi, in October 2012 while she was picking vegetables near her grandchildren. Another strike in July that same year killed 18 laborers near the Afghan border as they sat down to eat dinner. A subsequent missile strike killed many of those who came to the rescue of the first victims.

A big challenge in tallying civilian deaths is the difficulty of saying with certainty whether or not a military-aged victim of a strike is part of Al Qaeda, the Taliban, or another extremist group, the report authors acknowledge. However, family and friends often insist their loved ones 鈥渉ad no connection to extremists,鈥� reports the Los Angeles Times.

鈥淎merican intelligence officials and their congressional overseers argue that in almost all cases the strikes have hit legitimate targets. Sorting out the truth in individual cases is often impossible,鈥� the LA Times reports.

According to The New York Times, in communities often targeted by drones 鈥� for example, the northwest Pakistani town of Miram Shah, which has been hit 13 times since 2008 鈥� the psychological stress has been palpable.