General David Petraeus, head of US Central Command, said the military campaign has boosted US efforts against the Al-Qaeda network and represented an "important step forward."

"One of the most important developments over the past year has been the impressive determination of Pakistan's efforts against extremists that threaten the stability of the Pakistani state," Petraeus told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"Pakistani operations in Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Swat, Buner, Lower Dir, and now South Waziristan have significantly degraded Pakistani Taliban groups," the general said.

Petraeus said the campaign, however, has "not directly engaged the sanctuaries of the Afghan Taliban groups in Pakistan," a distinct group from the so-called Pakistani Taliban.

But he said the offensive "does facilitate our efforts to degrade the extremist groups in the border region and to defeat Al-Qaeda."

President Barack Obama's administration has pressed Pakistan to move against Taliban and Al-Qaeda sanctuaries inside its borders, saying success in the Afghan war depended on disrupting the cross-border safe havens.

The testimony came after Obama unveiled plans last week to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to turn the tide against Taliban militants.

Although Pakistan is central to US strategy for the region, Washington has struggled to build trust with a wary military and political establishment in Islamabad that remembers when the United States lost interest in the region after the Cold War.

Pakistani officials worry about arch foe India and its possible influence in neighboring Afghanistan, with Islamabad reportedly retaining ties to some Islamist militants as a potential hedge.

Elements of the Pakistani intelligence services helped create the Taliban movement in the 1990s and its Afghan leaders have mostly remained beyond the reach of US forces.

Senator John Kerry told Petraeus and the US ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, that US success in Afghanistan hinged on Pakistan's role.

"I am convinced that what happens in Pakistan, particularly near the Afghan border, will do more to determine the outcome in Afghanistan than any increase in troops or shift in strategy," Kerry said.

The US special representative to the region, Richard Holbrooke, said on Sunday it was "an unfortunate but unavoidable fact" that Pakistan has not gone after Taliban elements from Afghanistan, even though it has stepped up military action against Pakistani Taliban groups that have been at war with Islamabad.

"So we want to focus on that. That's one of the main issues that we have been talking to our friends in Pakistan about.

"Pakistani-US relations in the public arena are not where they should be. We inherited a decade of unfortunate history," he said. "We have a lot of work to do to improve our mutual understanding with our Pakistani friends and allies."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told CBS News on Sunday that the United States would not pursue Taliban leaders inside Pakistan despite a report that the CIA has been authorized to expand its drone attacks on Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders.

"Pakistan is a sovereign government. We are in a partnership with them. I think at this point it's up to the Pakistani military to deal with this problem," he said.

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