Islamabad, Mar. 20 : A worried Pakistan has decided to raise the issue of a possible extension of the US covert war to Baluchistan with the CIA chief Leon Panetta during his visit to the country.

Panetta would be arriving here on a two day visit on Friday.

"Pakistani authorities will raise this issue with the CIA chief when he arrives here and he will be cautioned that drone attacks on Balochistan could be catastrophic for the country's stability," The Nation quoted a top Pakistani official, as saying.

According to sources, Panetta is likely to meet Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's Advisor on Interior Affairs, Rehman Malik, senior officials in ISI and FIA, and other top officials during his stay.

Islamabad, on several occasions, has said that the drone attacks are proving detrimental to the `War on Terror', and that the US strategy in this context should be reviewed.

Earlier, Pakistan had rebuked media reports which claimed that the United States was planning to expand its military operation beyond the ungoverned tribal areas of Pakistan, particularly in Baluchistan, where top Taliban operatives are reportedly hiding and initiating attacks on the allied forces in the southern Afghanistan.

"We have seen the report. It appears to be speculative and we cannot comment on speculations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said. (ANI)