Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called for U.S. and NATO-led forces to cease anti- terrorist raids that violate Pakistani territory, saying his country will protect its soil.

``The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country will be safeguarded at all costs,'' the official Associated Press of Pakistan cited Gilani as telling U.K. Justice Secretary Jack Straw in the capital, Islamabad, yesterday.

Greater understanding is needed between the countries engaged in the war against terrorism in Afghanistan, Gilani said. President Asif Ali Zardari said he raised the issue of U.S. missile strikes inside Pakistan when he met with U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday in London.

The U.S. says Pakistan isn't doing enough to combat Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists regrouping in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan. U.S. forces have carried out missile attacks and raids inside Pakistan since Pervez Musharraf resigned last month as president.

Pakistan's military said yesterday army units have been ordered to stop cross-border raids by U.S. and NATO-led forces based in neighboring Afghanistan, saying they caused civilian deaths during recent incursions.

``We reserve the right to retaliate for any aggression in self-defense and to protect our territory, civilians and soldiers,'' Major Murad Khan, a military spokesman, said yesterday. ``Soldiers have instructions'' to stop border violations.

Good Cooperation

Pakistan and the U.S. are allies and reports that soldiers will fire on U.S. forces aren't correct, Bryan Whitman, a Defense Department spokesman, said in Washington yesterday, according to the American Forces Press Service.

U.S. forces ``enjoy good cooperation with Pakistan'' along the border, Whitman said, according to the report on the Defense Department Web site. The U.S., Afghanistan and Pakistan are working to combat the threat from terrorists in the border region, he said.

Pakistan's armed forces are fully capable of handling any situation within their territory, APP cited Gilani as saying.

The U.S. and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan criticized Gilani's government for beginning truce talks with militants in April and said terrorist incidents in eastern Afghanistan were 50 percent higher during that month than the same period in 2007 as a result of increased terrorist activity.

Ground Assaults

President George W. Bush two months ago approved the use of American Special Forces to carry out ground assaults in Pakistan to hunt Taliban and al-Qaeda militants, without prior agreement from the government in Islamabad, the New York Times reported Sept. 10, citing an unidentified U.S. official.

Zardari said the U.K. understands Pakistan's position over the U.S. raids.

``Britain has a better understanding of the subcontinent than most so they can take our point of view and take it across the continent,'' Zardari told reporters after meeting with Brown. The U.K. prime minister ``is very much aware'' of the situation and understands Pakistan's position. The U.K. is the main ally of the U.S. in the war in Afghanistan.

``I don't think there will be any more,'' Zardari said when asked about the raids. He didn't elaborate.

Pakistan's top military commanders pledged to defend the country's territory in a meeting Sept. 11, a day after the army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, warned that other nations wouldn't be allowed to conduct military operations on its soil.

Taliban Regime

NATO has more than 53,000 soldiers in Afghanistan fighting supporters of the Taliban regime that was ousted by U.S.-led forces in late 2001. The U.S. has more than 19,000 soldiers under NATO command and about 16,000 in an American-led counterterrorism force.

Pakistani security forces last week killed more than 100 militants in operations in the tribal region, the military said. At least 30 fighters were killed three days ago in a battle near the Afghan border.

A suicide bomber killed three security personnel late yesterday in an attack on a checkpoint in the Swat Valley, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Islamabad, the military said. The army has been fighting forces of a pro-Taliban cleric in the region since last year.

To contact the reporters on this story: Khaleeq Ahmed in Islamabad at paknews@bloomberg.net; Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 16, 2008 21:55 EDT