In an unusually strong public statement, Pakistan's army chief has lashed out at the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan over the cross-border raids in the tribal belt and vowed to defend the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity "at all cost".

Such intrusions were not covered by "any agreement or understanding with the coalition forces," Ashfaq Parvez kayani said.

They are not "allowed to conduct operations on our side of the border," Kayani said in a statement.

His strong reaction comes in the wake of mounting cross-border violations by US predator drones and a raid by coalition special forces inside a village in Pakistan's tribal belt which killed over 15 people.

Under the "well defined" rules of engagement with the coalition forces, the right to conduct operations against militants within Pakistan is solely the responsibility of the country's armed forces, he said.

No "external force is allowed to conduct operations inside Pakistan" and the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity would be defended "at all cost, Kayani said and cautioned that strikes by foreign forces could "further fuel" the militancy in the country.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thurday endorsed Kayani's stance, saying it reflected the government's policy. He said his government had the same views as the army chief on defending the country's sovereignty and integrity.

Kayani also said that, during his meeting with top US military officers aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on August 27, he had stressed that "military action alone cannot solve the problem" of militancy in Pakistan's northwest and tribal areas.

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