Qureshi: Pakistan will not tolerate US incursions

Islamabad has said it will neither accept US-led operations on its soil nor extended CIA-operated drone attacks inside its territories.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi made the remarks during a briefing with lawmakers in Islamabad on Tuesday, a Press TV correspondent reported.

"We strongly believe that drone attacks were counterproductive and unhelpful in our joint efforts towards winning hearts and minds, which is essential to succeed against violent extremism", Qureshi said.

The use of CIA-operated drones has increased since Barack Obama became US president. The Nobel Peace Laureate has repeatedly vowed to expand the controversial strikes that have raised anti-US sentiments across Pakistan.

Pakistani officials have opposed the expansion of drone attacks in the country's tribal areas, as well as strikes on Balochistan, where the US claims Taliban leaders are hiding.

The developments come after US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke said on Tuesday that the United States has members of its intelligence services in Pakistan, but it has no troops.

A former NATO officer earlier told the Guardian that American Special Forces conducted multiple illegal raids into Pakistan's tribal areas, which were never declared to the Pakistani government.

On Sunday, thousands of demonstrators in Rawalpindi demanded that the Pakistani government keep a strict eye on Blackwater/Xe and other US security entities operating in the country.