Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf met on Wednesday with US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher and discussed measures that could be taken against growing insurgency in the region.

Musharraf showed his discontent towards calls made in the United States for a strike against militants in the region, saying the statements underestimate Pakistan’s capability of handling the tense situation.

“Such statements do not acknowledge the key role Pakistan has played in the war against terrorism,” the Pakistani leader told Boucher during their meeting.

American army officials and Illinois Senator Barack Obama said attacks on pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan should be launched in order to eliminate potential threats and rout out insurgency from the region.

Pakistan is one of US’ allies in the war on terrorism, but these statements angered many officials in Islamabad headed by Musharraf.

Boucher also met with Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, who said “mutual trust and confidence” should be the backbone of the relation between Washington and Islamabad.

The US envoy praised the efforts made by Pakistan in the war with extremism and stressed that Washington is not going to abandon the partnership and will continue to support Musharraf’s administration especially in such difficult moments.

These remarks come in a time when the army general faces his greatest challenges since taking power in 1999, Musharraf receiving heavy fire for his decision to dismiss Chief of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and the drastic measures taken against militant students that fought with government troops at the Red Mosque for almost a week.

The standoff ended with a siege, approximately 100 alleged militants being killed by security forces. Other militant groups threatened to avenge their deaths and launched a fierce wave of suicide attacks across Pakistan, mostly in the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

A flare up of violence in the mentioned regions caused the US to call for “swift action” against rebels that are reportedly holed up in the mountainous area. About 90,000 soldiers were deployed in the regions bordering Afghanistan after Islamabad was pressured by both Washington and Kabul to take immediate action against extremists.

Musharraf attended a conference held in Kabul by tribal leaders and Afghan officials, discussing with President Hamid Karzai the stressing issue of cross-border infiltrations.

Taliban were allegedly carrying out attacks in Afghanistan before returning to Pakistan where they would plan another wave of strikes. These statements sparked controversy in both countries, Musharraf saying additional troops will be sent to the region in order to consolidate security along the frontier.

Even so, attacks on government troops and illegal transit continue, as Musharraf tries to gain sufficient support to be re-elected this autumn. His task is hampered by opposition members who raised several hurdles in his path and asked him in numerous rows to quit his position as army head.