NEW: The U.N. says the U.S. stands alone in its legal perspective on drone attacks (CNN) -- Farmers are on their way to tend their crops when a missile slams into their midst, thrusting shrapnel in all directions. Such attacks by U.S. drones are common, the United Nations' special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights said Friday in a statement on strikes in Pakistan's tribal region of North Waziristan. The rapporteur, Ben Emmerson, told CNN the actions are of dubious international legality, despite the United States' assertions. "I'm not aware of any state in the world that currently shares the United States' expansive legal perspective that it is engaged in a global war -- that is to say a non-international armed conflict with al Qaeda and any group associated with al Qaeda, wherever they are to be found, that would therefore lawfully entitle the United States to take action involving targeted killing wherever an individual is found," Emmerson said. Emmerson has just returned from Pakistan, where he listened to residents of North Waziristan talk about terrifying encounters with one of America's weapons in the war on terror. First on CNN: Iran confronts U.S. drone over Persian Gulf Some Pashtun men dress the same as Taliban members from the same region, hence the drone operators mistake them for terror targets, the statement said. A beard and a turban A Pakistani tribal elder who spoke with CNN noted hasty judgments based on appearances can be wrong. "Just because I have a beard and wear a turban, does that make me part of the Taliban?" asked Malik Jalaluddin. READ: Hagel to review criteria for drone medal READ: 5 questions about drones CNN's Saima Mohsin, Salma Abdelaziz and Mark Morgenstein contributed to this report