The White House a day earlier refused to rule out striking at suspected terrorist targets inside Pakistan near the Afghan border and would not say whether US forces would first seek permission from Islamabad.

"Such comments and calls are irresponsible and dangerous," a Pakistan foreign ministry statement said.

"First and foremost Pakistan is combating extremism and terrorism in its own national interest. Secondly, Pakistan and the United States are partners in the international campaign against terrorism."

Washington has stepped up the pressure on President Pervez Musharraf to hit Islamist militants along the Afghan border, even as a mosque raid has sparked a deadly wave of suicide attacks that have killed more than 200 people.

Pakistan stressed that its military action had yielded "concrete results in terms of the disruption of Al-Qaeda and capture of its key leaders and operatives."

"Therefore it would be counterproductive to create an impression of any divergences or differences on the issue of counterterrorism."

US President George W. Bush's spokesman, Tony Snow, when asked by reporters Thursday whether US forces could strike militants inside Pakistan, said: "We never rule out any options, including striking actionable targets."

Asked whether Bush would first seek authorisation from Musharraf, Snow told reporters: "Those are matters that are best not discussed publicly."

The Islamabad statement Friday stressed that "we have repeatedly made our position clear that whatever counterterrorism action is to be taken inside Pakistan, it will be taken by our own security forces."