An Inter-Services Public Relations press statement questioned the authenticity of the WikiLeaks cables and said that the army conducted operations in Malakand with its own resources.

The spokesman said that in the past there had only been sharing of technical intelligence in some areas. No drone attack support was ever asked for during the operations, which were conducted by our own resources, the statement said.

It also said that during the military operations in Malakand and South Waziristan, outside technical support was not sought. These operations were jointly conducted by the Pakistan Army and air force, the statement added.

According to WikiLeaks cables Gen. Kayani had asked the US to provide drone support during military operations against the Taleban in 2008.

Gen. Kayani had sought more US drone strikes to help battle militants, the cables said.

Pakistan's daily Dawn newspaper cited secret internal US government cables which show that way back in January 2008, the country's army was asking the US for greater drone back-up for its military efforts.

In a meeting on Jan 22, 2008 with top US military official Adm. William J. Fallon, Gen. Kayani asked Washington to provide "continuous Predator coverage of the conflict area" in South Waziristan.

The report of the meeting sent to Washington said that Adm. Fallon "regretted that he did not have the assets to support this request." He, however, offered trained US Marines to coordinate airstrikes for Pakistani forces on ground.

Gen. Kayani "demurred" on it and pointed out that having US soldiers on ground "would not be politically acceptable," Dawn reported.

Meanwhile, a US drone strike destroyed a vehicle in North Waziristan district on the Afghan border, killing four suspected militants on Friday, local officials said.