ISLAMABAD, Nov 20: Pakistan said on Saturday it would never allow any expansion in the campaign of drone strikes by the United States on its territory, asserting that the attacks were producing a “drone-hardened generation”.

“As for the reported suggestion by the US to carry out drone attacks beyond our tribal areas, Pakistan's position is very clear — we will never allow this to happen,” foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said at a media briefing.

“The Americans should rather revisit their drone attack policy and stop carrying out strikes in our tribal areas.”

Mr Basit made the remarks in reply to a question about a report in Friday's Washington Post which claimed the United States had requested Pakistan to allow it to expand the drone strikes to Quetta, where according to the former, the core of Taliban leadership was based.

The request also sought to expand the boundaries for drone strikes in the tribal areas, the Post said.

“We already have issues with American drone strikes, which are known to Washington,” Mr Basit said. “These strikes violate our sovereignty, cause collateral damage and above all are producing (a) drone-hardened generation.” — Agencies Anwar Iqbal from Washington adds:

The Washington Post reported that although Pakistan had rejected the US appeal, it had agreed to an “expanded CIA presence in Quetta”, where, according to the newspaper, the CIA and ISI teams were working together to capture senior Taliban members.

The newspaper noted that the two countries disagreed on the importance of Quetta. The US believes Quetta is home to a leadership council that presides over the Afghan Taliban.

In contrast, a senior Pakistan military official told the Post that it was “far-fetched” to create an impression that a “body is micromanaging the affairs of the Afghan Taliban”. Dawn

The United States had first asked for expanding drone attacks to Quetta about a year ago, but Pakistan turned down the request, diplomatic sources in Washington told .

Commenting on the Post story, a diplomatic source said that during the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue in Washington last month, the Americans once again indicated that they would like to expand the drone attacks to Quetta and to some new regions in Fata, but did not formally raise the issue.

The Pakistanis, however, told US officials that they could not accept their request as it would further infuriate a nation already angered by continued drone attacks in the tribal territories.

“We told them politely that the suggested expansion in drone attacks will be counter-productive,” said the source who did not want to be identified. “They understood our position and did not insist.”

The Post, which reported the US request, said the appeal focused on areas surrounding Quetta. But the Americans also sought to expand the boundaries for drone strikes in the tribal areas, which have been targeted in 101 attacks this year. 'QUETTA SANCTUARY':

The news- paper said US officials believed Quetta was not only a Taliban sanctuary, but also served as a base for sending money, recruits and explosives to Taliban forces inside Afghanistan.

“You expect us to open the skies for anything that you can fly,” a high-ranking Pakistani intelligence official told the Post.

The official described the Quetta request as an affront to Pakistani sovereignty, wondering: “In which country can you do that?”

The Post noted that Pakistani officials were sceptical about the US request, questioning why Pakistan was being asked to do more when the US had failed to control the Afghan side of the border.

“US officials have long suspected there are other reasons for Islamabad's aversion, including concern that the drones might be used to conduct surveillance of Pakistani nuclear weapons facilities in Balochistan,” the Post reported.

“The disagreement over the scope of the drone programme underscores broader tensions between the United States and Pakistan, wary allies that are increasingly pointing fingers at one another over the rising levels of insurgent violence on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border,” the report said.

Pakistan places strict boundaries on where US drones can fly. The unmanned aircraft may patrol designated flight “boxes” over the tribal belt, but not other provinces, including Balochistan.

“They want to increase the size of the boxes, they want to relocate the boxes,” a second Pakistani intelligence official said of the latest US request. “I don't think we are going to go any further.”