Islamabad, July 21 (RHC)-- In Pakistan, a U.S. drone strike killed up to 15 people Saturday in the village of Datta Khel in North Waziristan. It was the third U.S. strike in the region in less than two weeks. The New York Times, citing local residents and an anonymous official, said the dead were militants.

On Sunday, the Pakistani military bombed the Shawal Valley in North Waziristan, killing 28 people it said were militants. According to Reuters, an earlier bombing Friday killed 17 civilians, including six children.

The attacks are part of a Pakistani assault launched last month after repeated U.S. urging. The military ordered all of the population in North Waziristan to leave before the offensive, but some families are too poor or sick to go.